The family of a homeless First Nations woman who is sick with septicemia fear she will die without a safe home, but advocates warn it could be years before she reaches the top of the public housing waiting list.
Andrea Woodley has been in and out of hospital for weeks with sepsis, triggered by infected blisters on her feet after sleeping rough in inner city Perth. The Noongar, Budimaya and Nyikina woman and her loved ones fear that without a home she is at risk of death.
Her mother, Heather Taylor, who lives 2,000km away in Derby in the Western Australian Kimberley region, said she was told her daughter’s sepsis, which has spread to her heart and lungs, could be fatal without proper treatment. Doctors also told Taylor her daughter would need appropriate housing in which to recover.
“The doctor called me and said that Andrea had bacterial pneumonia, and the bacteria had gone to her heart, the left chamber, left side of her heart,” Taylor said. “And I said, ‘Oh my God’. And she had septicemia.”
Woodley was discharged from Armadale hospital back to the streets. Taylor said she worried her daughter would be unable to keep on top of taking her antibiotics and attendingoutpatient treatment. She also worries she will not be able to access appropriate clothing, socks and shoes to protect her feet.
“I said: ‘You’ve got to be very, very careful. The doctor said you could die. So I’m telling you to be very careful’,” Taylor said. She told Guardian Australia she fears that every phone call is bad news.
Woodley has been sleeping rough since 2023, after her Broome home was firebombed by a violent stalker. She later left the Kimberley entirely due to ongoing fears for her safety. Andrea has given permission for her mother and her advocates to speak on her behalf because she has been unwell. Her phone was stolen after she was discharged from hospital, leaving her uncontactable.
Taylor said her daughter, who is the mother of five children, has suffered trauma and violence on the streets and worries that she will be made even more vulnerable due to her illnesses.
“She can’t walk on her feet. She’s more at risk. That makes her at risk of being attacked,” Taylor said. “She can’t run or anything, and that’s why she’s afraid. She sleeps where there are cameras, bright lights in the city – she will try and get to the shelters early enough.
“I’m really frightened that something’s gonna happen to her. The next time she gets sick, it might be too late.”
The family have experienced intergenerational trauma and violence, including having children forcibly removed, losing a sibling and chronic housing instability.
Lawyer and housing advocate Dr Betsy Buchanan, from Daydawn, a Catholic advocacy organisation that supports First Nations people, has known Woodley and her family for years. She said she has been concerned for Woodley’s safety and wellbeing since the 39-year-old was released from prison into homelessness earlier this year.
Buchanan has written on Woodley’s behalf to the WA housing department and the office of the housing minister.
“I rang and informed them that Andrea was so ill and had nearly died from sleeping rough,” she said. “And they said she would still have another two-year wait, even though she had very strong medical letters from her doctors.
“They’ve just got a stock answer that ‘everyone on the priority list is the same’, and they don’t make any exception to the fact that a First Nation person might be dying.”
The WA government has been under increasing pressure about public housing waiting lists. Last week it announced it was banning “no ground” evictions – a policy which up until now has disproportionately affected First Nations families.
Jesse Noakes, a campaigner with End Unfair Evictions, said it was a welcome move.
“In recent years, the state government has evicted hundreds of families from public housing without grounds at the end of fixed term tenancies,” Noakes said.
Last month, Guardian Australia reported that a Noongar woman had died of sepsis just weeks after giving birth, and two months after she was evicted from public housing.
A spokesperson from the WA Department of Housing and Works said priority housing waiting lists in the state were long, and it was difficult to determine how long it would take for a suitable property to become available. People experiencing domestic or family violence are referred to services for additional support, they said.
“The Department of Housing and Works strives to meet the housing needs of all applicants on the waiting list at the earliest possible opportunity,” they said.
The department said Woodley was a public housing tenant between 2008 and 2023, until the fire in her Broome home. It said that home was inspected and deemed habitable, but Woodley moved out in November 2023 after being approved for a transfer to Perth. Getting approved for a transfer does not mean she was offered a property, just that she is on the waiting list in a different location.
“All applicants on the priority waiting list have demonstrated an urgent need for housing,” the department said. “[The department] is committed to working with Ms Woodley, and her advocate has been provided the details of support services that may be able to assist her.”
Taylor said access to a safe and secure home could save her daughter’s life.
“She just says ‘all I want is a room of my own, with my little TV’,” Taylor said.“I know that she will get better if she was to have that. That’s all she wants.”
