By Emmy Groves

Copyright abc

Kylie Johnson has experienced sleepless nights and fears of homelessness after struggling to pay rent due to financial hardship and health setbacks.

The Canberra mother and former business owner said her family was kept afloat by the ACT government’s Rent Relief Fund (RRF).

She said she had received an eviction notice on her Canberra rental, and in desperation, she had tried to sell assets, rehome her dogs, and was ringing local charities.

She was even forced to put back groceries at the check-out until the RRF gave her a reprieve.

‘Short-sighted call’

The scheme was delivered by Care Financial and it gave tenants in private rentals grants up to $2,500.

The most recent iteration of the RRF wound up in July but budget negotiations between the government and the ACT Greens will see it resurrected in some form.

“The government had made an extremely short-sighted call to cull it from the budget,” ACT Greens Leader Shane Rattenbury told the Legislative Assembly.

The scheme had cost the budget about $1.7 million each year.

Applicants had to demonstrate rental stress or severe financial hardship, meet income limits, and have lived in the property for at least three months.

Almost 1,700 recipients benefited from the RRF from almost 3,000 applications.

Scheme 2.0 details to come

A government spokesperson said it had “sought advice from directorates on the establishment of a new scheme and will continue to engage with the community services sector”.

The statement said the scheme’s details would be announced after the government considered advice.

Ms Johnson said she hoped the new scheme would deliver a similar lifeline.

“I’m nervous about what it’s going to look like.

“We had a really successful scheme that was … helping keep people in their homes and preventing homelessness,” she said.