The Wire

A house fire in a Sydney suburb killed a mother and her three children earlier this year. Police believe a heater started the fire, and double-deadlocks on the doors prevented the family escaping. Even more disturbingly, the family didn’t have enough blankets so they’d taken to sleeping together around the heater, under one doona. They also didn’t have enough food, so the young son, in Year 2, would bring home snacks given to him at school for his family. In a sophisticated city like Sydney, it’s hard to believe that a family could lack blankets, let alone food. Was this an isolated case, or is it part of widespread problem across the whole of Australia? Cassandra Hill spoke to Anglicare’s Chief Operating Officer, Peter Gardiner.