The crying and screaming. The burning rows. The daily struggle to make ends meet.
When the Burns family opened the doors of their dilapidated mansion in Claymore, western Sydney, to an ABC documentary crew 12 years ago, they never expected to become the face of Australia’s urban poverty.
Couple Brett and Caroline Burns and their children Hayden, 14, Jessica, 12, and Hayley, 2, featured in the memorable Four Corners episode ‘Growing Up Poor’ in 2012, which followed their chaotic lives on benefits in a of Sydney’s most impoverished suburbs, where the majority of residents live in government housing.
The episode ended with their prospects for a better future looking slim. Unfortunately, when I visited them over a decade later, it became clear that they were a family were unable to escape the cycle of grinding poverty and abuse that continues to blight their lives.
But there was at least one bright spot: the couple and two of their children had finally been resettled by the NSW government, moving from their dilapidated home to the nearby suburb of Minto after years on the waiting list..
‘We are in a much better position now. It is a beautiful area (in Minto) and we have a beautiful house,” Caroline said proudly.
“We are blessed.”
It is perhaps not surprising that the Burnses’ three-bedroom home was vandalized and vandalized by local criminals shortly after their departure from Claymore.
At the time the Four Corners documentary was filmed, Hayden Burns was struggling with bullying at school and his parents’ constant arguments.
Hayden now spends his days scouring neighborhood trash cans for empty bottles and cans that he then exchanges for a 10-cent refund
“It’s scary living next to an empty house, kids go in and start fires,” said a Claymore resident of the juvenile crime rampant in the area.
Like many families living on Sydney’s western edge, Centrelink payments are the Burnses’ main source of income.
At the time the Four Corners program was recorded, the family had been living in their dilapidated house for thirteen years. They would end up spending 24 years there.
While their living situation has undoubtedly improved, it also became clear to me during my visit to Minto that poverty and unemployment continued to plague the family, including the couple’s now adult children, daughters Jessica, 24, and Haylie, 14, and son Hayden, 26, who still lives at home with his parents.
Hayden spends his days scouring neighborhood trash cans for empty bottles and cans that he then exchanges for a 10-cent refund.
He returns to Claymore every week to pick up cans and bottles at his old spot, a former neighbor told me.
At the time the documentary was filmed, Hayden was 14 and struggling with bullying at school, as well as his parents’ constant fighting that caused him to withdraw from the family.
During the program, Brett moved into the garage due to his arguments with Caroline. It was later revealed that Brett had physically abused her in front of the children.
Today the couple continue their fraught relationship, with Brett now using a walking stick, but an optimistic Caroline believes their overall circumstances have improved over the past decade.
“Everyone is doing well,” she said.
The Burns family (pictured in a 2016 Facebook photo) participated in a 2012 Four Corners documentary titled Growing Up Poor
NSW Police have applied for an assault warrant for Brett Burns against his son Hayden (left, at Four Corners; right, in a recent Facebook photo) following an incident in March
Caroline Burns said the family was ‘doing well’, but it was clear to me that the specter of poverty still hung over their lives
Family patriarch Brett Burns now uses a cane to walk
However, a public records search shows there is still discord among the family, with NSW Police applying for an assault warrant for Brett Burns against his son Hayden following an incident in March.
When asked about the dispute, Caroline waved it away.
‘He [Hayden] it’s okay. It’s been a while,” she said. “That was just one time and done.”
The Claymore housing estate was built by the NSW government in the 1970s and is home to more than 3,000 of the state’s poorest families.
The family have finally been resettled by the NSW Government, moving from their dilapidated mansion to the nearby suburb of Minto (pictured) after years on the waiting list
The Burnses lived in this Claymore mansion for 25 years and recently relocated. The building, seen here, was destroyed shortly after their eviction and has now been condemned
Forty years later, Claymore remains a depressing sight with many burned and abandoned homes and trash in the community.
But Claymore, along with neighboring Bonnyrigg Heights and Airds, is set to undergo a transformation as part of the big social project.
Under the new project, the redevelopment will include a mix of new public and private housing.
Some of the private owners have already moved in and the difference between their spacious new-build homes and the buildings of NSW Housing was large.
Kaisey, 29, told me during an earlier visit that the area was a lot safer as residents had slowly been relocated.
“I used to live on Ramsay Way but our house was set on fire,” the mother-of-three said.
‘It’s all changing now that they’re tearing everything down – it looks rough, but it’s safe. I love Claymore.’