In the harsh, dry and desolate Northern Territory town of Papunya - where the temperature hits at least 35C on more than 110 days a year - the heat is driving residents to distraction.
It’s causing them to faint, become dehydrated and have seizures. Kids are suffering nosebleeds and Elders are being forced to sleep outside in an attempt to escape the oven-like overnight conditions.
As tenants in properties owned by the NT government, do they deserve airconditioning?
This question is key in a Federal Court case that may impact the way public housing tenants, and potentially general renters, are treated around Australia.
How do we define liveable? Habitable? These are words in legislation, but what exactly do they mean? And do the definitions and parameters need to change in a nation that is becoming increasingly hot?
Jack McLean, a senior lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre, is representing Papunya locals in the court case. He told the National Account most houses don’t have an air conditioner, and that in the houses where they have been supplied, they are often broken.
He said some community members had bought portable box air conditioners for nearly $1,000 a unit.
“Most remote communities are on prepayment systems for their electricity,” McLean said. “When that credit runs out, the power just automatically shuts off. Switching off fridges, air conditioners, fans, and lights."
In the red: The problem is compounded by poor housing design and energy efficiency, leaving residents having to pay even more to keep a house cool. There is also a lack of shade in the community.
McLean said that households can go for days without electricity, leading to concerns of a fatality during an extreme heatwave.
Papunya resident and grandfather, Ashley Robertson, who is being represented in the case, said locals are going into hundreds of dollars of debt to keep the house cool for a few days.
"Communities in the sunniest place on earth are relying on diesel generators in order to power air conditioners that they've bought themselves," McLean said.
Papunya houses up to 400 people in about 50 homes.
Getting warmer: As the planet continues to warm due to burning of fossil fuels, the number of extreme heat waves are forecast to increase.
According to Climate Council data, at the current rate of warming, Papunya - 240km northwest of Alice Springs - will have approximately 141 days a year over 35C by 2050, up from 112. By 2090 it’s expected to hit 155 days a year.
Image credit: Tash Khan, Human Rights Law Centre