'Have to get me off at gunpoint': The fight for people's right to live on boats

The homeless Australians turning to derelict boats to avoid sleeping on the streets Thu 2 Jul 2026 at 4:53am There's a housing crisis in Australia. For many people buying a home is unaffordable, while renting is so expensive that it's leaving some people with dwindling savings. So when James Bryan lost his job, rather than joining the throngs of homeless in NSW, he turned to living on his boat the Lindy Lou at Brisbane Water on the NSW Central Coast. "Lost my job, lost my apartment, ended up on the water," Mr Bryan said. There's just one problem with that, it is illegal to live on a boat in NSW, and as a result authorities want to seize the vessel. Mr Bryan says he has been fined multiple times by the NSW Maritime office and that authorities have informed him the Lindy Lou could be seized as part of a crackdown on abandoned, unregistered and unseaworthy boats. "I just got one recently for $750 for being on anchor for 90 days," he told 7.30. Mr Bryan is one of a number of people turning to boats to live on, due to housing pressures on the Central Coast. He works occasional labouring shifts but says he cannot afford to rent. Data from realestate.com.au shows median rentals in Gosford, on the Central Coast, have risen more than 40 per cent in the last five years. A JP Morgan report also found changes to CGT were not likely to reduce rental prices. While maritime authorities argue that many of the vessels are unsafe and pose risks to both occupants and the environment, people living on them say it's better than sleeping on the streets. "This is my home … I'm not hurting anyone," Mr Bryan said. Disability support pensioner Tracey Swann is also living on a boat on the Central Coast. When she is not living on the water, she says she has been squatting. "We've been living in … abandoned buildings and stuff like that,"she said. She is looking at getting a boat so she can avoid that lifestyle. "We've got a fair bit of cleaning up on it, but it's so big inside," she told 7.30. "It's got a kitchen, toilet and shower." 'Get me off at gunpoint' Several people living on boats in the area have told 7.30 of an adversarial relationship with Maritime NSW, who are reported to be cracking down on people living on what they deem unsafe vessels. The safety issues include boats nearing the end of their life being at risk of sinking, including while people are on-board. Maritime NSW has also raised concerns about sewage waste from boats being mismanaged. Principal Manager of Maritime NSW Shane Davey believes the issues have to be addressed. "The regulations are there for a reason, and we know that there's safety issues," Mr Davey told 7.30. "We know that there's impacts to the public and the general waterway users. We know there's environmental concerns." Mr Bryan is adamant Maritime NSW will not move him on. "They'll have to get me off at gunpoint,"he said. "It's my boat. They think they can put a sticker on my boat and just steal it. Not happening." In NSW people are only permitted to live on a vessel for 90 days each year. In Queensland, people can live aboard a boat year-round. Mr Davey said thousands of unregistered vessels remain on state waterways but many of them are not seaworthy and recent incidents have highlighted those dangers. "We saw one just a few weeks ago where a person was living on board for quite some time, and the anchor chain broke," he said. "The vessel was sucked out the heads across a coastal bar. That could have quite easily been a fatality." Is there housing relief? Maritime NSW says it works with housing and support agencies before taking enforcement action and seeks to connect people with homelessness services. NSW Minister for Roads and Regional Transport Jenny Aitchison is the minister responsible. She says temporary accommodation and other supports are available to people experiencing homelessness. "There are opportunities for motel accommodation or other temporary accommodation that people can access if they're genuinely homeless," she said. Ms Aitchison said people with limited means often end up buying vessels off owners who are stuck with expensive repair jobs. "Somebody might buy an old boat, think it's a bargain, [and] they can go and fix it up themselves," she said. "They don't have the financial capacity or even potentially the skill capacity to do that work." She argued the work done to convince people to get off vessels was already adequate. "It is a difficult situation, I understand that," she said. "We've got [the department of] Housing working with these people to provide them with alternative options, that are about providing that temporary relief." Six weeks to save his home But for some people already facing homelessness, the loss of a boat can mean losing the only shelter they have. While filming on the Central Coast, 730 witnessed Maritime officers and police seize Dave Macpheron's boat, which had a large hole in its side. He now has just over a month to save his boat. "They give you six weeks to come up with the money to get it back and amended and all. And if you don't have the money to get it mended, they destroy the boat," he said. The 53-year-old is unable to afford repairs, though he said he does have his own materials to repair the boat. For now, he is sleeping on trains and on the streets but in his mind he has one solution. "Look around for another boat." Watch 7.30, Mondays to Thursdays 7:30pm on ABC iview and ABC TV