Nearly 90% of people on income support payments say the inability to cool their homes in hot weather is making them sick, and even those who have air conditioning avoid using it because it is too expensive, a survey by Australian Council of Social Service has found.

...

Nearly two thirds of those surveyed – 72.1% of whom were renting privately or in social housing – said they were unable to cool their homes down in periods of hot weather.

Some 89.4% said they sometimes or always felt unwell in the high heat, while 29.8% said they had needed to seek medical care for heat stress, with elderly people or those living with disability worst affected.

Nearly 70% of people surveyed had air conditioning of some form in their home, though many reported it did not function well or only lowered the temperature in one part of the house. Some 94.5% of people with air conditioning said they avoided using it because it cost too much.

I experienced this first hand when I was growing up in housing commission. The place was poorly insulated, poorly ventilated, and had zero air conditioning. We didn't have the right to install air conditioning and couldn't afford it anyway. We were lucky if we had more than one functioning fan (which caused fights between us kids when one would "hog the fan" by sitting in front of it). The bills soared in summer, making more stress as Mum had to figure out how to keep us cool and still pay the bills. Job interviews back then were guaranteed failures - who's going to hire a guy who's already soaked to the bone with sweat before he even hops on the bus to get to your offices? We didn't have the higher level of vulnerability to the heat that our many elderly neighbours had, but it still hit us every December-January.

And all this is before the relative cost of electricity reached it's current height, before the daily peak temperatures and UV levels were this extreme, before the cost of living skyrocketed. We were living through the "recession we had to have" back then, times were tough, but folks living on pensions and the dole are doing it far worse now. Some of this is caused directly by the current financial situation (which, yes, is worse than the recession of my childhood), some of it is caused by a lack of foresight or care in the construction of low income housing, some of it is caused by a lack of investment in the improvement of our energy grid... So many factors, all of them out of the control of the people who are always hit the hardest.

*holds face tenderly*

local teen happy for first time in life, universe adjusts accordingly 

despite, despite, despite!!

an emerald trio commission for @rileyclaw, featuring his au! hehe

Housing Commission 1-22-2023

Comm for @danicalzone

still trying to find a mock-animation look

Leigh Bardugo asked me to draw Darlington from Ninth House! (I dropped my phone. She’s one of my all-time favourite authors). The sequel to Ninth House, HELL BENT, came out this week :)

Beta Willuz icon I drew for a commission! Cuties <3

Pearl and Cleo as requested via commission (Thank you so much!)

+ a little bonus

@nestaarcheronweek | Day 01: Queen of Queens

“We heard about you down here. You are the one the sea and the wind and the earth whispered of.”

“Nesta.”

“You took from the Cauldron itself.”

“Come with me, Queen of Queens, and we shall return what was once lost.”

-  Chapter 54, A Court of Silver Flames.

Nesta has been referenced more than once as a queen in the books, and perhaps this is a portent for what the future holds for her. Maybe not exactly as queen, but as ruler of the Dusk Court.

In this art, me and Luana wanted to represent Nesta as it's High Lady, holding her two swords: Cauldron made Ataraxia and Starsword/Gwydion. And we couldn't have loved more how @gessueter brought this idea to life.

Art by: @gessueter Commissioned by: @melphss and Luana Characters belongs to: Sarah J. Maas

Huntlow doodle dump including 3 different aus so yeah enjoy

second round of six fanarts! thank you to everyone who participated ily!!!

Some illustrations I did for a lovely fic "A Young Candles Flame" by @azure-blaze92 🐦🕯

i think amity deserves to have goggles. as a treat