The council forced to clean up 142 tonnes of waste from hoarders

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A NSW council says it is ill-equipped to deal with a hoarding crisis because forced clean-outs, and legal battles are not addressing the underlying mental health crisis.

Hoarding disorder affects up to seven per cent of older Australians and can lead to serious health and public safety risks for the occupants of a home and their neighbours, including fire risks and insect and rodent infestations.

Gunnedah Shire Council has reported a growing hoarding crisis.

Gunnedah Shire Council last week removed 12 tonnes of waste from a residential property, spending an estimated $30,000 on clean-up, waste disposal and legal fees.

Last year the council spent more than $45,000 in legal and clean-up costs to remove 142 tonnes of waste including motor vehicles, dead animals, whitegoods, putrescible waste and noxious weeds.

The council’s director of planning and environmental services, Andrew Johns, said residents living near hoarders can be impacted by vermin and snakes that find shelter and sustenance in waste, then spread to other properties.

The council is seeking support at this week’s local government conference for more funding to the health sector to drive down cases of hoarding and squalor.

It also wants the NSW government to provide funds for the “extraordinary and unpredictable” costs of compliance and enforcement related to hoarding and squalor.

“Local government is not qualified or equipped to assist people with mental health, and can only try to deal with the consequences,” Johns said.

Fire and Rescue NSW estimates 12 per cent of all fire fatalities are people reportedly living in hoarding and squalor conditions, but other research suggests up to one-quarter of fire deaths involve hoarders.

Waverley Council has been repeatedly forced into court action to clean up one family’s home in Boonara Avenue, Bondi, which neighbours called “disgusting” and a health hazard that impacted property prices.

Gunnedah Shire Council spent $45,000 removing rubbish from properties last year.

A Waverley Council spokeswoman said hoarding can be difficult, costly and time-consuming to manage “and is upsetting for many people, including people who live in the street”.

“Hoarding disorder is a complex mental health condition and council’s role is to address the public health risks and nuisance concerns that can arise from hoarding and squalor using the powers available to us,” she said.

Flinders University College of Education, Psychology and Social Work emeritus professor Mike Kyrios said hoarding was a complex mental health disorder to treat: “Part of the difficulty is gaining the trust of the person, because the last thing they want to do is throw stuff out.”

Waverley Council was forced to take court action to clean up the Bobolas family’s home in Bondi.Credit: Ben Rushton

Kyrios said hoarding took up to 12 months to treat and required input from multiple agencies which might include the RSPCA, as well as mental health experts and local councils.

“Medicare’s 10 sessions at best do not cut the mustard for people with a hoarding problem or any serious mental illness,” he said. “In terms of wellbeing, hoarders are worse off than people with psychosis.”

Australian Catholic University associate professor in psychology Keong Yap said more funding was needed for a range of treatments for hoarding disorder.

“Forced cleanouts might be a quick-fix solution but in most circumstances, it is a temporary solution and can be traumatic for the person with hoarding disorder,” he said. “If underlying issues are not addressed, the clutter will return to the home very quickly.”

Yap said hoarding disorder increases the risk of injury from fire and falls, financial impacts because of excessive buying, or the risk of being evicted.

“Many people with hoarding disorder are aware that excessive acquisition and saving of objects are serious problems,” he said. “They feel ashamed of their homes and the way they live. They are upset by how their possessions have led to problems with their relationships.”

Yap said TV shows typically associate hoarding disorder with older people, but research showed it can begin in adolescence.

He also said its causes are complex, with evidence suggesting emotion deprivation in childhood may play a role, while hoarding disorder is also associated with ADHD and loneliness.

Hoarding Home Solutions co-owner Wendy Hanes said the disorder was a long-standing problem for local councils, which have limited options to deal with hoarding when it becomes a problem.

“The legal avenues typically focus on mitigating the risk by removing the clutter using the rapid cleanout technique,” she said. “As hoarding is a mental health issue, this type of approach is expensive but has no long-term benefit to the safety of the person or the community.”

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