Australian Council Auctions Homes, Threatening First Nations Families With Eviction
A council in Mount Isa, Queensland, is auctioning off 24 homes to recover unpaid rates, potentially leaving several First Nations families homeless. The properties belong to a charity that has accumulated almost $1m in debt over five years.
Mount Isa city council in north-west Queensland began auctioning the first 10 of 24 homes on Tuesday to recover unpaid council rates. The properties are owned by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation for Welfare Services (ATSICWS), a not-for-profit that has not paid rates since 2021, accruing almost $1m in debt.
Residents say they only learned of the unpaid debt five months ago. Leonie Reading, whose husband is a traditional owner of the region, has lived in her home with three children for 11 years. Terminally ill, she says she will be left with nowhere to go once her home is sold. She has contacted ministers and her local MP's office but received no response.
Another resident, Kerry Major, has not paid rent for two and a half years after the ATSICWS stopped maintaining her home, which she says was left without hot water or a working stove. She warns the auctions could leave many in the Indigenous community homeless, as finding private rental accommodation in the town is nearly impossible.
In August 2025, ATSICWS was fined $15,000 after being convicted of 12 breaches of corporate reporting laws for failing to lodge annual reports. The organisation's director declined to comment.
The council had initially planned to auction all 24 properties, including 15 occupied by Aboriginal families. Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy told parliament in June the government was working on a resolution, including approaching Indigenous Business Australia, but her office confirmed last week the federal government has been unable to stop the auctions.
Independent senator Lidia Thorpe has called on the federal government to buy the homes under land acquisition legislation, saying around $600,000 could have secured housing for the 15 affected families. Queensland's Department of Housing and Public Works said it has not been approached to acquire the properties but is working with local service providers to support affected tenants.
