A man who has been waiting 17 years for social housing has described feeling "invisible and forgotten" by the waiting process which has recently left him homeless and sleeping in a car.
Sean Lee was placed on the housing waitlist when he was working as a trainee nurse in 2004, earning less than $300 a week.
He said he was told he was looking at a three to five year wait. But Mr Lee is still waiting for a home in Lake Macquarie to become available.
He is now bouncing between emergency accommodation and his car, which he was awarded through a compensation payout.
Mr Lee's plight for a home was hampered in 2009 when he suffered a major spinal cord injury from an elevator accident. He said he has since required a single floor home upon a doctor's orders.
He has been offered units several floors high but said he had not accepted them due to his injury, which has left him unable to work and living on a pension.
Up until a few weeks ago Mr Lee was living with his mum, who was served a rental termination notice and had to move. He said she is currently staying in an AirBNB which is not single level.
The biggest thing I struggle with is feeling very helpless. It feels like there's a tunnel, but it doesn't seem like there's a light at the end of the tunnel - it's just black.
Sean Lee
The Department of Communities and Justice says Mr Lee's choice of area for housing, known as an allocation zone, has changed 14 times. They said this had impacted his wait, but not placed him at the bottom of the list each time.
"The Department of Communities and Justice provides social housing to eligible applicants as quickly as possible, prioritising those most in need, including people who are homeless, escaping domestic violence or with severe and ongoing medical conditions," a spokesperson said.
"Anyone who is homeless or at risk of homelessness can contact Link2home on 1800 152 152."
But Mr Lee claims he has only changed the allocation zone a handful of times, and once it was switched from Lake Macquarie to Port Macquarie not on his request.
Since moving from his mum's last month, he has spent more than two weeks in emergency accommodation. But the government's emergency hotel program is temporary and Mr Lee has no assurance of how long he'll have to wait for a home.
"It just feel like nobody cares and I feel invisible and forgotten," he said.
"The biggest thing I struggle with is feeling very helpless. It feels like there's a tunnel, but it doesn't seem like there's a light at the end of the tunnel - it's just black."
He acknowledged the wait wasn't the fault of Housing staff, but at times he had become frustrated and sworn at them about the situation.
"I've been telling Housing staff, no matter what house you live in, look around because people like me would bend over backwards, would empty the bank account, would even chop off our arm or leg to have that kind of security," he said.
