It's a housing scheme designed by the government with the best of intentions to transform the lives of people with profound disabilities. But a Four Corners investigation has found the program is failing with more than 1 thousand of the purpose-built homes sitting empty and unscrupulous operators exploiting the taxpayer funded offer.
00:00On the outskirts of Melbourne's west you don't have to look too hard to find disability houses.
00:08There's one of the largest oversupplies in the country in this particular area.
00:13Built by private investors, hundreds of millions have been spent constructing the specialised homes.
00:18Many are empty because people with profound disabilities don't want to live here.
00:23In these areas there's lack of amenities, it's not close to shops, it's not close to the allied health services.
00:28It's believed more than a thousand of these custom-built houses are sitting empty on the outskirts of cities across Australia.
00:35Yeah, it looks like it's still empty.
00:37There's a huge homelessness crisis in Townsville. I just couldn't believe that, you know, these houses are just sitting there vacant.
00:44The empty houses are an unintended consequence of the Federal Government's Specialist Disability Accommodation Scheme, aimed at getting people with disability out of group homes.
00:54In 2016, the Government called on the private sector to build small, custom-built houses, and in return offered big rents.
01:03A Four Corners investigation has found the poorly regulated market is failing.
01:09Advocates say 17,000 people with a disability are still in group homes, and on top of the empty houses, unscrupulous players have entered the market.
01:19We thought the investment was government-backed. We thought we were doing it for a good cause.
01:24Mick Schroeter lost $600,000 in one scheme.
01:28You think you're doing the right thing working all the time, trying to put a nest egg away and do the right thing, but then these people come along and just take it.
01:36It's just, I don't know, it just, it's not right.
01:41The NDIS administrator says it's committed to supporting a robust market that gives people with a disability the options they deserve.
01:49But experts say disability housing is at risk if the sector isn't cleaned up.
01:54You are so right, I think.
01:55You couldn't be an instructor where do you think it was supposed to protect like so?
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