That's nasty, I'm sorry you went through that. Having lived in a couple shitty places in Australia I didn't get that kind of experience with a slumlord. It probably does happen, I'm not saying otherwise. But the system here has so much red tape which combined with the culture's laidback attitude results in landlords taking an eternity to answer requests from renters, if at all. The cheaper and shittier the place, the worse this gets. The classic is the landlord will wait for the contract to end so they can get rid of you. Most likely the real estate agent will then suggest a coat of paint or something similar that doesn't fix anything, and then a ridiculous hike up to the rent price for the next bunch of desperate plebs. Agents are often just as bad if not worse than the landlords.

But yes Maria's story here is pretty spot on. Centrelink is ridiculous. If you live in a shit hole it's easier to do repairs yourself than complain.