A rural Queensland council is auctioning off ۲۴ homes to recover unpaid rates, potentially forcing First Nations families into homelessness.
Residents claim they were left in the dark about the debt, which stretches back years, until five months ago.
The first ۱۰ houses is being put up for auction in Mount Isa on Tuesday.
They are owned by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation for Welfare Services (ATSICWS), a not-for-profit which has accrued almost $۱m in unpaid rates over five years.
Leonie Reading, whose husband is a traditional owner of the north-west Queensland region, has lived in her home with three children for the past ۱۱ years. Reading said she had only been told in April that the ATSICWS had not paid rates to Mount Isa city council since ۲۰۲۱.
Reading, who is terminally ill, told Guardian Australia she will be “forced out” with “nowhere to go” when her home is sold.
“The whole situation is not good … it’s quite dire,” she said. “We’re at the pointy end where if anyone is gonna do anything, they need to pull a rabbit out of their hats now.
“I’ve contacted everyone. I contacted the minister, our local MP’s office, and another minister but they passed the buck to the housing minister.
“I haven’t heard a thing back from anyone.”
Kerry Major is also facing eviction. She said she had not paid rent in the past two and a half years because the ATSICWS stopped undertaking maintenance on her home. Major said the auctions would leave many in the Indigenous community homeless.
“I had no hot water and I told the director of the organisation that I had no hot water,” she said. “The house was falling apart and I’ve been without water for two and a half years, and I’ve been without a stove for two and a half years.
“All the houses that we’re living in … they’re all run down. One house has to be demolished because there’s no way anybody can fix it.
“We’re not only looking at these ۲۰ families but our mob are all connected. I don’t only have the people that live in my house here all the time, I’ve got a lot of other families who come through.”
Major said most of the residents facing eviction had yet to find alternative accommodation and securing private rentals in thecity town was “near impossible”.
In August ۲۰۲۵, ATSICWS was fined $۱۵,۰۰۰ after being convicted of ۱۲ breaches of the Corporations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) Act ۲۰۰۶, namely failing to lodge annual reports with the Registrar of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporations.
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The director of ATSICWS declined to comment when contacted by Guardian Australia.
Initially, the council planned to auction all ۲۴ properties from ۱ July, including ۱۵ occupied by Aboriginal families.
In June, the minister for Indigenous Australians, Malarndirri McCarthy, told parliament the government was “working on this on several levels”, which included approaching Indigenous Business Australia to help the families, and contacting the Queensland government and Mount Isa council to find a resolution.
On Monday, a spokesperson from McCarthy’s office said she had travelled to Mount Isa late last week but told residents the “commonwealth has been unable to find a resolution to stop the auctions from going ahead”.
“The minister’s main concern from the outset has been the welfare of affected families,” they said.
The independent senator Lidia Thorpe has called on the federal government to buy the homes at auction under the Lands Acquisitions Act ۱۹۸۹.
Thorpe said the federal government had been aware of the unpaid rates for a number of years but had done nothing about it.
“It’s all on the federal government, it’s all on minister McCarthy and the prime minister for not bailing out these ۱۵ homes, these ۱۵ families,” she said. “For $۶۰۰,۰۰۰, they could have ensured families stayed in their homes.”
A spokesperson for Queensland’s Department of Housing and Public Works said it had not been “approached by ATSICWS or the Mount Isa City Council to acquire the properties listed for auction”.
They said the department was working with local service providers to help tenants facing eviction.
“The Queensland government’s priority continues to be supporting impacted tenants and the Mount Isa Housing Service Centre is working with individuals and families who reach out for housing support,” they said.
Guardian Australia has approached the Mount Isa city council for comment.
