If you need more proof that Canberra's shortage of affordable housing is crushing struggling families, look no further than 17-year-old Stephen.
He is the sole carer for his two little brothers aged nine and 10, and his father who six weeks ago had open-heart surgery. His dad was then terminated from his job as a truck driver when he was unable to work due to his ill-health. The boys' mother died last year of cancer aged just 39.
The dad's employer also owned the house the family was renting. The employer took several weeks' rent from his severance pay which left the family with $100 and a notice to evict by the end of June. The landlord said if the family wanted to stay in their house in north Canberra, the rent would be rising from $400 to $600 a week.
Stephen (the name is a pseudonym as the family does not wish to be identified) gave up his plumbing apprenticeship to care for his dad and brothers. The family has had no income for weeks, the father still trying to secure a disability pension.
The struggling family has been supported over the last month by Canberra charity St John's Care in Reid with food and petrol vouchers but things are at breaking point.
Now the family is looking as far afield as Cootamundra in country NSW - 170km away - to find affordable housing, unable to pay the high private rents in Canberra.
St John's Care community worker Therese Findlay said it was a huge wrench for the family to leave Canberra, particularly the younger boys having to leave their school. But in somewhere like Cootamundra, the family could rent a three-bedroom house for $240 a week, compared to $400, $500 or $600 in Canberra. The killer in securing rented accommodation was also often coming up with the bond.
Stephen would prefer to stay in Canberra in a home that was affordable so that his father could remain close to medical specialists.
"That would be the best thing," he said.
The family has not yet pursued public housing as it was under the impression it would have to wait 18 months. But Housing ACT says people in crisis situations such as those experiencing violence, sleeping rough or being forced from accommodation waited an average of 24 days for public or supported accommodation between January and April this year, with some securing temporary crisis accommodation within a matter of hours or days, especially if their immediate welfare was under threat.
Ms Findlay said Stephen's father was a very humble man who found it difficult to take hand-outs and who wanted to work, but couldn't, on medical advice.
She believed Stephen should be nominated as the next Young Australian of the Year, such was the maturity and poise he had shown doing everything for the family - cooking and cleaning, taking his father to medical appointments, trying to secure them a house and an income.
"He is a very stable, very remarkable young man," she said.
"He has shouldered so much responsibility and stepped up like a real man. We are so proud of him."
The family's crisis situation follows an Anglicare report last month revealing only 2.3 per cent of ACT and Queanbeyan rental properties are within reach of minimum-wage families.
Stuart Davis-Meehan is director of St John's Care which receives only 5 per cent of its funding from the government, the rest of its operations running entirely through donations and volunteer labour.
He said the charity often saw people living in cars and tents because they could not afford rent.
Mr Davis-Meehan said the supply of more affordable housing was the only answer to help people like Stephen and his family.
"There are many roads that lead to homelessness and despair and ill-health is one of them," he said.
"This family desperately needs a break from the relentless cycle of poverty and illness that they are now experiencing."
* Anyone who can help should contact St John's Care on 6248 7771.
* After reading the story, Canberra woman Stacey Power has set up a gofundme page for the family. It is at https://www.gofundme.com/3u9cws0