Judge Invokes The Castle's Iconic Line in Public Housing Rights Ruling
In a landmark decision that blends popular culture with legal precedent, an ACT Supreme Court judge has quoted the iconic Australian film The Castle while ruling that three public housing tenants had their human rights breached by a government relocation program.
Legal Decision Finds Human Rights Violations
Justice Verity McWilliam, in a decision published last week, found the planned eviction of three women from their long-term public housing properties was unlawful. The judge determined the women had been denied procedural fairness, and their fundamental human rights were violated under the contentious ACT Growing and Renewing Public Housing Program.
The three tenants, who had been leasing their properties for between 27 and 42 years, took the Commissioner for Social Housing to court over the relocation initiative. While they received notices to move to other properties in 2020 and 2022, they were ultimately not forced to relocate before the legal proceedings concluded.
The Castle's Enduring Legal Relevance
Justice McWilliam directly referenced the memorable line from Darryl Kerrigan, the beloved character from The Castle, stating: "It's not a house, it's a home. A man's home is his castle ... You can't just walk in and steal our homes."
The judge described this as "that pithy one-liner" that continues to resonate in Australian consciousness, noting that while this case involved ACT law rather than constitutional matters, "the sentiment was the same and those words have deep roots."
Historical and Human Rights Context
Justice McWilliam further bolstered her decision by quoting Roman statesman and lawyer Cicero, who wrote: "What more sacred, what more strongly guarded by every holy feeling, than a man's own home?"
The judge emphasized that what the women truly feared was "not necessarily that they would be left without a roof over their heads ... but that in relocating they would lose their homes." She noted that all three women had become deeply established in their residences, with one approaching retirement age and the other two well into their later years, making relocation considerably more difficult.
Broader Program Implications
The $867 million, eight-year Growing and Renewing Public Housing Program was launched with the intention of replacing 1,000 old public housing dwellings while adding an extra 400 homes to the public housing portfolio. However, this legal decision highlights significant implementation challenges.
This ruling follows previous scrutiny of the program. In 2023, the ACT government apologised to public housing tenants affected by mandatory relocations after the ACT Ombudsman conducted a critical review that found the decision-making process was flawed. Additionally, last year the ACT Auditor-General determined the program had not been fully effective and that Housing ACT had failed to appropriately manage associated risks.
While the Commissioner for Social Housing conceded there had been no procedural fairness in these cases, they contested the human rights breach claim, which Justice McWilliam ultimately upheld in her comprehensive decision.
