Lawyers for victims of the ACT government's attempt to force more than 300 tenants out of their homes have filed their case at the Federal Court.
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They are seeking compensation for the distress caused after 337 letters were delivered by hand to residents of public housing telling them they would be forcibly "relocated".
The court papers just filed say from December 23, 2020 officials sent termination notices saying: "The Housing ACT property that you live in has been identified for sale or redevelopment under the Growth and Renewal program and you will need to move to another Housing ACT property."
Tenants were told they were "required by law to move" and if they didn't a "notice to vacate" would be issued, according to the court documents.
At the time, there was uproar. Many of the tenants were elderly and had lived in the properties - their homes - - for 30 years or more.
The class action's lead case (who does not want to be identified) is in her mid-60s and had lived at her home in Braddon for 33 years.
In a class action, typical cases representing many more similar cases are considered by the court. If the typical case wins, compensation is payable to the rest of the group.
The total bill to the ACT taxpayer could run into hundreds of thousands of dollars, perhaps even higher than $1 million.
Last year, the ACT Ombudsman found the territory government agency "underestimated" the effect of the false termination notices on tenants. The ACT government's communication was "impersonal" and caused "significant distress", the Ombudsman found.
"In our view, this correspondence had the appearance of marketing material from government," his report said.
The Ombudsman's report said of one tenant she "was an elderly and physically impaired pensioner who had lived in her property for several decades and believed that it would be her home for life". Elderly women were disproportionately affected by the forced relocations, community organisations said.
The ACT government accepted its process was "flawed" but it's not clear if it has accepted it broke the law. Nor has it agreed on paying compensation to victims.
When the Ombudsman's report was published, ACT Housing Minister Yvette Berry said she was "sorry" and the process would be "reassessed".
Ms Berry accepted the government needed to do better.
"We worked really hard to make sure we were communicating really well with tenants but we accept that the Ombudsman has found that was not appropriate and we need to do that," she said.
"It was never anybody's intention to cause even more distress and we understand this decision has done that and I'm very sorry."
Steve Evans
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
Steve Evans is a reporter on The Canberra Times. He's been a BBC correspondent in New York, London, Berlin and Seoul and the sole reporter/photographer/paper deliverer on The Glen Innes Examiner in country New South Wales. "All the jobs have been fascinating - and so it continues."
