NSW public housing official allegedly told woman she would get a home faster if she had sex with him

Police are investigating a Homes New South Wales employee, who is alleged to have propositioned a woman on the waitlist for public housing, claiming that if she had sex with him he would arrange for her and her child to get into a home faster.

The woman, who is a survivor of domestic violence and had fled in order to escape her ex-partner, said the man sent her explicit text messages from his work phone and picked her up to take her for sexual encounters in his work car.

“Basically, he said to me, if you let me use you and let me do things, I’ll get you a house,” said the woman, whom Guardian Australia cannot name. “At first I tried to go along with him. But he got too disgusting.”

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The woman said she had moved home 12 times since leaving her ex-partner a few years ago and is on the priority waitlist for public housing. She said she felt she had been “preyed upon” due to her vulnerabilities.

“I was just desperate for a permanent home and he knew that,” she said, saying he had seen her in the local Homes NSW office in tears on one occasion. “I was willing to do whatever he wanted to help my [child] .

“I’ve just been barely able to function mentally for the past few weeks, it triggered a lot of past trauma and added to the hell I’ve been living for the past three years,” she said. “It’s taken all of my strength to just be able to parent without having it affect my child’s mental health too.”

The woman reported the man to Homes NSW and gave a report to police.

A police spokesperson said: “On Monday 16 September 2024, officers … commenced an investigation following reports of alleged offences committed by a NSW Government employee. Inquiries are ongoing and no further information can be provided at this time.”

A spokesperson for Homes NSW said: “Homes NSW are assisting police with their inquiries in relation to alleged offences by an employee. We take allegations such as these extremely seriously and will continue to fully cooperate with investigators.

“As the matter is subject to a NSW Police investigation no further comment can be provided at this time.”

Delia Donovan, CEO of Domestic Violence NSW, said that victim-survivors of domestic violence are particularly vulnerable and under “tremendous pressure”, particularly at the point they leave their partner.

Donovan said the housing system should be “resourced and structurally set up” to support them into safety.

“We know that victim-survivors are coming into that housing space at their most vulnerable,” Donovan said. “That point of separation is one of the most dangerous times for women fleeing violence – almost two-thirds of domestic violence-related homicides occur in the context of separation.

“So not only are these women at huge risk, they are also under tremendous pressure. Pressure to keep their families together, pressure to keep financially afloat, pressure to keep a roof over their head – it’s incredible the strength and resilience required from victim-survivors.”