A disabled man in Western Australia’s far north is facing homelessness after discovering he was not on the lease of the public housing he shared with his late brother.
When Michael McCarron’s brother died before Christmas last year, he received a notice from the Department of Housing and Works (DHW) that he had to vacate his home.
Despite living at the Broome residence for more than a decade, Mr McCarron has no claim over the property and no avenue for legal recourse.
Department of Housing and Works employees put locks on Michael McCarron’s former home. (ABC Kimberley: Dunja Karagic)
“My brother got sick and then he died, and [they] more or less said, ‘Get out,'” Mr McCarron said.
“After going through all this, funerals and deaths, just that much stress and on top of it, trying to tell me you’ve got to move out … I just feel lost.”
The ABC was at the property when government employees came by to install new locks on the house.
Mr McCarron said he was on a disability pension.
“I thought [Department of] Housing was helpful to people, but they’ve never been helpful. [They’ve] been trying to put walls in front of me all the time,” he said.
Michael McCarron has been locked out of the place he called home for 12 years. (ABC Kimberley: Dunja Karagic)
Mr McCarron said several houses in Broome previously designated as public housing were no longer being used.
“I even used to live in that house across the road and my girlfriend, her mum and dad lived there,” he said.
“They passed away, now she’s passed away … it’s all boarded up, and it’s a better house than this house.”
More education needed
Mr McCarron is one of several people in the region who advocates say have fallen between the cracks.
Deidre Lechleitner from Centacare’s Kimberley Housing and Homelessness Support Services said many people in public housing were operating from a place of “fear” and “financial insecurity”, so they did not add people to the lease, worrying it would raise the rent.
Deidre Lechleitner says more needs to be done to help people experiencing homelessness in the Kimberley. (ABC Kimberley: Dunja Karagic )
“If someone moves into a social housing property without formal approval and without being added to a tenancy agreement, they are considered an unauthorised occupant,” Ms Lechleitner said.
“Even if they were invited by the primary tenant or they’ve contributed financially, they’ve stayed long term, they do not have independent legal standing.”
The onus was on the DHW to educate residents in public housing about their rights and obligations, she said.
“It is very common for individuals to become homeless because they’re not associated with the tenancy agreement,” Ms Lechleitner said.
“There’s definitely not enough education around that area.”
Priority waitlist
In a statement, the DHW said Mr McCarron was informed in December 2025 that he could not take over his brother’s lease, as he was never listed as a member of the household and did not pay rent.
He was also given three “vacate date extensions”, the DHW said.
The Department of Housing and Works says Michael McCarron is on the priority wait list. (ABC Kimberley: Rosanne Maloney)
Mr McCarron said he asked to take over the rent, but the state government turned him down.
“If Mr McCarron were to remain in the property any longer, it would unfairly delay other people on the waitlist from being housed,” the statement read.
“Mr McCarron is on the priority housing waitlist, backdated to November 2025 and will be advised once a suitable property becomes available.”
People in Broome on the priority housing waitlist have been told it would take between four and seven years until they are housed.
As of December 31, 2025, there were 129 applications on the Broome Priority Waitlist.
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