Housing minister steps in as Queensland quadruplet mum loses government rental assistance
The housing minister stepped in after the family were told they were not eligible due to the GoFundMe donations.
A Queensland mother of rare identical quadruplets was at risk of losing her government-funded rental assistance after a successful online fundraiser made the family no long eligible for help.
Jenitar Na’amoana, 34, and her husband, Jortham, welcomed the quadruplets — Emily, Harriet, Alexa and Catherine — at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital on July 14 after an extremely high-risk pregnancy.
It is believed to be first naturally conceived pregnancy of its kind in Australia, with the four girls delivered by elective caesarean section at 28 weeks and four days.
Sign up to The Nightly's newsletters.
Get the first look at the digital newspaper, curated daily stories and breaking headlines delivered to your inbox.
By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.They are receiving specialist care in the hospital’s neonatal intensive care unit.
The family have grown to a unit of 10, after the quadruplets join their four older siblings, aged 10, eight, three and one.
The family launched a GoFundMe to help purchase urgently needed baby equipment, a new family car and help with ongoing medical, travel and everyday living expenses.
However, after successfully raising over $79,000 — including an anonymous $10,000 donation — the family said the increase in finances made them ineligible for government-funded rental assistance.
Na’amoana, her husband and their four children live in a three-bedroom rental on Brisbane’s northside. With the arrival of the four new children the family had been using rental assistance and had also been approved for social housing back in June.
The Department of Housing contacted the family on Tuesday advising them that their private rental financial assistance had been withdrawn due to the sudden income from GoFundMe.
Housing minister Sam O’Connor told 7NEWS on Wednesday that the eligibility of the family had changed, however, he had stepped in to override the decision due to the “unique case”.
“The housing officer was following the guidelines as they are but this is a really unique circumstance,” he said.
“It’s not an ordinary situation, we don’t have a carve-out in our guidelines for these situations.”
O’Cconnor said the case was raised with him and the outcome changed, however, said it is not a stand alone incident.
“We do get cases like this where there is discretion exercised pretty frequently, this one was a more high profile case given the unique circumstances,” he said.
“We consider these things on a case-by-case bases and the right thing happened here and we’ll do it again if there are other unique cases like these.
“We are continuing to work with the family to get the best possible outcome in terms of their housing needs.”
O’Connor said the family had the private rental until February next year, which will give the state government time to help find appropriate accommodation for the family.
“It was the right outcome,” he said.
Originally published as Shock blow as mum of rare quadruplets denied housing aid
