I found my dream community. Then I discovered the hidden divide between the haves and have-nots

July 15, 2026 — 5:00am

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It was a ballot I never imagined I’d enter, let alone win. At a friend’s suggestion, I’d applied for an apartment in the government’s affordable housing scheme and six months later, I was lucky enough to be offered my own place in a new development.

My life had ground to a halt due to a series of difficult events a couple of years earlier, so I was relieved by the security of the capped rent and excited to be rebuilding with a new community in Melbourne’s inner north. I moved in and exhaled.

But I soon discovered this opportunity came with a significant hidden cost. I’d arrived anticipating housing security and social connection, only to find myself segregated from the full-paying residents.

It was while running a health startup that I’d founded to improve the safety of aged care residents that things had first taken a bad turn for me. After five hectic years I burnt out suddenly and spectacularly. As I was coming to terms with closing my company and letting go of my team, our customers and the dream, I began to develop debilitating carpal tunnel syndrome in both wrists.

With the prospect of losing full use of my hands due to the aggressive condition, immediate surgery was recommended. Then the slow recovery began. I was physically unable to work for around 18 months. For some time I was unable to perform simple tasks like closing a zipper, squeezing a toothpaste tube or turning the key in my front door. To this day, tasks requiring........

© The Age