Cathy and John Fawbert look out across their property in Yowrie near the south-east NSW town of Cobargo with despair, as they face a fourth winter living in a shed.

When the Black Summer bushfires of 2019–20 left their home in ashes, they were covered by insurance.

But the couple lost everything a second time around, in an unfortunate deal with a local builder.

The building company they engaged to rebuild their home, Atomic 6, was stripped of its contractor licence in March 2022 in response to what NSW Fair Trading called “complaints about defective, incomplete and poor building work conducted without NSW Home Building Compensation Fund insurance”.

They have lost their life savings, with no insurance to cover the failed rebuild and no hope of recouping their losses from Atomic 6.

The shed the Fawberts have called home for the past few years overlooks the partially built foundations and pallets of rotting building materials where their home should be.

Cathy and John have found out the hard way that they don’t seem to fit any criteria for government support.

“I’ve emailed everyone, from the mayor to the prime minister, and no-one seems to be able to do anything for us,” Cathy says.

While millions of dollars have flowed to communities and businesses impacted by the Black Summer bushfires, the Fawberts have found they are in a grey area.

As victims of an incomplete bushfire rebuild, they are not eligible for natural disaster relief from the federal government.

“If we were uninsured or didn’t have a job, had no money in the bank, we would fit the criteria,” Cathy says.

“I wonder why did we even worry about trying to help ourselves, and insure ourselves?”

Federal funding now ‘fully allocated’

In response to questions from the ABC, the federal government’s National Emergency Management Agency said in a statement that the Australian government has provided more than $2 billion in support for communities impacted by the 2019–20 fires, and that the Black Summer Bushfire Recovery Program funding was now fully allocated, with no further rounds of funding planned.

The agency also said: “Bushfire victims in New South Wales involved in a home building dispute as a home owner or licensed contractor can seek advice from, or lodge a complaint with, NSW Fair Trading.” 

Cathy said that NSW Fair Trading was looking into their situation, but the Fawberts have been informed that there was no money to be recovered from Atomic 6.

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Rebuild limbo ‘worse than the bushfires’

Sue de Marco and Gordon Sanger walk through their half-built house in nearby Verona, with a mixture of hope and horror.

The innovative prefabricated house — with the roof and exterior walls designed to be covered in soil and plants — was the first project designed by international company Green Magic Homes to receive a construction certificate (approval to start building) in Australia.

But following an inspection in April 2022, Bega Valley Shire Council advised Sue and Gordon that work had been undertaken by the contractor without the critical inspections required and that they needed to cease work until a number of issues identified in the inspection were addressed.

The council has clarified with the ABC that this was not a “stop work order”, but did require certain remediations to be actioned before the build progressed.

Meanwhile, the Insta-worthy house is deteriorating before their eyes. There are watermarks on the skirting boards and stains on the floor where the house has flooded, and plaster is falling from the ceiling.

The Australian building contractor Sue and Gordon had signed up with, operating under the company name Green Magic Homes Australia, was stripped of its contractor licence by NSW Fair Trading in June 2022, leaving the couple in a state of limbo that Gordon says is “worse than the bushfires”.

In November 2022, the Australasian distributor for Green Magic Homes, architect Alex Greig, flew to Australia to visit Gordon and Sue’s property and see for himself the flaws in construction.

He committed to rectifying the defects and working toward getting Gordon and Sue to the point of moving in “early in the new year”.

But he has since explained that the start-up global company is suffering cashflow pressures from the loss of contracts following media coverage of Sue and Gordon’s defective build.

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In February 2023, Green Magic Homes (USA) said in a statement to the ABC that the last contact they had with the Green Magic Homes Australia administrators was when the issue began in mid-2022 and further attempts to make contact had been unsuccessful. 

They added that Green Magic Homes (USA) was “on the verge of shutting down” and in a “difficult financial situation” due to the damage to their reputation caused by the cancellation of Green Magic Homes Australia’s contractor licence.

Crowdfunding and ‘keeping the faith’

With no money left to complete the build themselves, Sue and Gordon have resorted to crowdfunding, and somehow manage the daily struggle to stay positive.

Sue says they are keeping the faith that they will one day have a home to move into. 

“You have to, otherwise you’ll just go down in a big mess. And I definitely don’t want to go there,” Sue says.

Atomic 6 and Green Magic Homes Australia did not respond to the ABC’s request for comment.