situation. We’re not funded to do that kind of support work but we do it anyway because it has to be done.” [Transitional housing provider with significant background in social services] Even having the highest rating will not necessarily result in being provided public housing. We heard from multiple people about the frustration of being on the waitlist and living week to week in emergency accommodation or transitional housing, only to continually miss out on new public housing. “Even once Kāinga Ora has a house available, they have to find out who has the highest priority rating. Someone in Auckland could have a higher priority and get moved into a new Gisborne home�� The East Coast rental rates are set lower in their calculation even though rents have gone up massively here, so people in Auckland are always rated higher; we’re never prioritised over the Auckland waitlist.” [Housing/benefit advocate] “It really depends on which placement team at Kāinga Ora picks up the data match, whether you can ensure that local residents in emergency or transitional housing actually get access to new local Kāinga Ora homes.” [Housing/benefit advocate] These frustrations were often compounded by people feeling caught between multiple systems and powerless to navigate any of them. A recurring 38 Human Rights Commission theme was that no one in positions of authority appeared to understand or acknowledge that the housing crisis was brought on by faulty systems, not by individual people. “I struggle with my own mental health… I don’t know what to do, it feels like I have been forgotten. I ring up weekly to Work and Income to update my housing needs but still nothing.” [Resident in emergency accommodation] “It feels like we wind up forgetting about the people in motels because there’s nowhere else for them to go and at least they’re better off than being on the street or in their cars.” [Housing/benefit advocate] “Multiple services have left us shattered and abandoned… I’m tired, I’ve actually given up.” [Former resident of emergency accommodation] “There’s so many of us out there that have been let down due to emergency housing, many more personal stories and experiences. It’s mentally draining when you don’t have stability. And yes, people have become used to that way of living because they have been made to feel like that’s their only option.” [Former resident of emergency accommodation] “Manaakitanga doesn’t exist in this system.” [Social housing and social service provider/ homelessness advocate]