Family Facing Homelessness Due to Department Error

Hello, all.

Our names are Jasbir and Gurpreet. We are a family of 5, with three children (Ajuni, Jhasan and Aus, aged 6, 11 and 13). Two of our children are Australian citizens, one of whom suffers from Type 1 Diabetes. We have been lawfully residing in Australia for 15 years, since 2009. However, we are now unfortunately experiencing homelessness after being evicted from our homes on 30 March 2024, after being denied work rights in February 2024, which has been caused by an error on part of the Department of Home Affairs. At the moment, we are currently living in a tent in a caravan park with our children for the next few weeks over the school holidays, as we have no money and nowhere else to go. We are desperately seeking your generosity to support us to cover our essential expenses until we permitted to work, and until our legal issues have been resolved by the immigration Department.

For background to the issue that is causing us a denial of work rights, in January 2023, we lodged a Bridging Visa A application on time in association with our Court application, however the Department failed to process it in time, and it was not granted until several days later, which has now caused a two-day period of unlawfulness to appear in the Department's system. Generally, the Department backdate these grants, particularly in cases where the applications have been lodged in time to avoid this issue, however this two-day period of unlawfulness now means we are not entitled to work rights on our current bridging visa because a period of unlawfulness exists (despite it being two days only and not being our fault).

Gurpreet, as the primary breadwinner for our family, has unable to continue his work as a truck driver, which means that currently, we have zero income. With five members in our family, we are finding it incredibly challenging to cover essential expenses such as food, shelter, and other basic needs for our children.

Our 11-year-old daughter Jhasan, who battles Type 1 Diabetes, requires insulin four times a day. But our financial struggles have left us unable to afford her medication. We have reached out to countless social services, but we have been unsuccessful in securing assistance, as we do not have health care cards or concession card, as we are on bridging visas. We also have no family or friends to rely on for financial support.

After being behind on rent, we were evicted from our home on 30 March 2024. We put all of our essential belongings in a storage unit, and as the school holidays have now begun, we told our kids that we are going camping for the next two weeks. We are now living in a tent that we already had and have set up at a park near the Great Ocean Road.

We told our kids that Gurpreet will have work rights soon, but we really can’t provide our kids with any further re-assurance, as we don’t know how long we will be in this situation. We have a pending request with the Minister for Immigration for intervention, but we don’t know how long it will take before we receive an outcome.

We have never asked anyone for help until now, but we feel that we don’t have any other choice, for the sake of our family’s survival and our daughter’s health. We have sold all of our valuable possessions between February and March including our gold, but we have nothing further to sell anymore and there is now no other way for us to eat, other than to ask for help.

With your generosity, we would be able to cover essential expenses, continue to secure legal representation, and ensure our daughter gets the medical care she urgently needs. Even a contribution as small as $1 would make a significant difference in helping our family. We are extremely grateful for any support you can provide.

Please share our story, spread the word, and show us that we're not alone. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts for your kindness, compassion, and support.

Sincerely,

The Gill Family - Jasbir, Gurpreet, Aus, Jhasan and Ajuni