Arabic version: أمين المظالم ينتقد استجابة استمرت أربع سنوات للعفن لدى هيئة الإسكان في جنوب أستراليا

According to ABC News, the SA Housing Trust has apologised to a tenant after the South Australian Ombudsman found its four-year delay in removing black mould from her home was unreasonable.

Ombudsman Emily Strickland found the public housing authority failed to ensure the property met “reasonable standards of health and safety”, despite repeated reports from the tenant dating to February 2021. In a report published in July and made public on Wednesday, she said the trust erred in handling the complaints.

Ms Strickland said contamination worsened significantly after the first report. Although the trust raised works orders following later complaints, no substantive work had been completed by the time her investigation began in February. The property was not tested until April, when active mould contamination was found on the bathroom ceiling and in the hallway carpet.

The ombudsman said the tenant had raised concerns that mould was affecting her health and had told the trust she had a lung condition. She concluded the contamination would not have met minimum housing standards. The report noted the authority had initially faced difficulty accessing the property in 2021, but said that from 2022 works orders were raised and then not completed or cancelled without resolving the issue.

Ms Strickland issued four recommendations, including that the Housing Trust address the contamination and change its complaints-handling procedure. A trust spokesperson said it accepted the recommendations, had apologised to the tenant and was engaging with her to access the home for remedial work. The tenant is being relocated while required works are undertaken.