Australian Caravan Park Culture
Created | Updated Jun 6, 2003
In America Caravan Parks are regarded as places of rednecks and inbreeding, they are looked down upon and steered clear of, no one wants to associate with someone who is dating their sister. This attitude is of course totally wrong and unjust. Here in Australia, although not going as far as to say that if you live in a caravan park you are dating your sister, we do however have a very negative attitude toward those people fortunate enough to not be homeless. This report is about the culture within a Caravan Park and, is intended to demonstrate the differences of rules and lifestyle these people face.
Close to the center of Bendigo (a large town in central Victoria), tucked away down what could be mistaken as a side alley, lies the biggest Caravan Park in Bendigo - Central City Caravans. I rang them to try and arrange an interview with the co-manager of the park; she declined, so I asked if she knew of any permanent residents who might like to be interviewed about the type of life that they lead. She said it was possible and for me to bring my letters in so that she could give them to people she thought would most likely be willing to talk to me. I arrived 10 minutes later, letters in hand, to find a middle-aged man (whose name I didn't gather) waiting for me. I handed him the letters, he handed me some brochures and forms, I said thank-you and he left. I have to this day not heard from any of them.
I then contacted Mary Cuskelly from the Consumer and Tenancy Advisory Service (CTAS), whom I had previously asked for some over the phone information, and arranged an interview. The interview was very insightful and, I was able to ask Mary (her preferred name) questions that I would have felt a little embarrassed asking a permanent caravan park resident also, I don't think that the residents would have known all the statistical information Mary had.
Probably the main thing that I learnt from Mary was that the people who live in a caravan park like to hold on to what very little privacy that they have. "That's probably why you didn't get any replies to your letter," she said, "they live in an environment where everyone around them knows what they do and when they do it, having someone come and interview them about it to tell everybody else that doesn't know isn't too appealing for them. Caravan Parks are extremely gossipy places already." So gossipy in fact, I later found out, that if you step on someone's toes you are likely to be run out of town." Word will get around, vicious rumors will be spread and, everyone else will turn against you. In fact one of the main reasons people leave caravan parks is because they can't stand the torment and frustration from their neighbours anymore.
Aside from having to deal with a gossip and the lack of privacy, with people knowing when you go to the shower and how long for and sometimes even why, there is a constant fear amongst caravan residents that they could be kicked out at any moment. There are often fights between the managers and tenants, such fights use to result in the tenant being kicked out straight away. In recent years however CTAS has been educating Caravan Park managers and residents of their rights and proper channels they should use to resolve disputes. Unfortunately there are still some things that are yet to be changed such as the overdue rent rule. The Caravan Parks Statement of Rights and Duties states that if a tenant owes in rent for more than seven days they can be asked to leave the following day. Now compare that to the 2 weeks notice that a landlord of a house must give (even then he has to take the case to tribunal, so it's usually longer) and you will see that this is unfair.
All rules and regulations aside the main thing that is bad for residents of caravan parks is not the GST, (in fact this area only took two calls about the GST and caravan park tenancy, none of which were complaints) it is the stigma attached to where they live. Whenever people hear they live in a caravan they are looked down upon and naturally this makes them feel uneasy. The stigma is so bad that residents either get postal boxes or when writing on forms (e.g. Job Application Forms) they use their parent's address to save from the embarrassment.
We treat going to a caravan park as a bit of fun as part of a holiday, we're there for a couple of weeks at the most then we get to go back to our regular homes. We rarely get looked down upon for where we live (unless we live in Eaglehawk, which in my opinion has the same unjust stigma as a caravan park). And we rarely have to wait in line with strangers to go to the toilet. My only explanation for our "general" attitude toward those who, whether they choose to or not, live in a caravan park is that the 200,000+ people who live in caravan parks permanently each year live in such a diverse and different culture that we are ill informed of. They are not how we first perceive them.
Close to the center of Bendigo (a large town in central Victoria), tucked away down what could be mistaken as a side alley, lies the biggest Caravan Park in Bendigo - Central City Caravans. I rang them to try and arrange an interview with the co-manager of the park; she declined, so I asked if she knew of any permanent residents who might like to be interviewed about the type of life that they lead. She said it was possible and for me to bring my letters in so that she could give them to people she thought would most likely be willing to talk to me. I arrived 10 minutes later, letters in hand, to find a middle-aged man (whose name I didn't gather) waiting for me. I handed him the letters, he handed me some brochures and forms, I said thank-you and he left. I have to this day not heard from any of them.
I then contacted Mary Cuskelly from the Consumer and Tenancy Advisory Service (CTAS), whom I had previously asked for some over the phone information, and arranged an interview. The interview was very insightful and, I was able to ask Mary (her preferred name) questions that I would have felt a little embarrassed asking a permanent caravan park resident also, I don't think that the residents would have known all the statistical information Mary had.
Probably the main thing that I learnt from Mary was that the people who live in a caravan park like to hold on to what very little privacy that they have. "That's probably why you didn't get any replies to your letter," she said, "they live in an environment where everyone around them knows what they do and when they do it, having someone come and interview them about it to tell everybody else that doesn't know isn't too appealing for them. Caravan Parks are extremely gossipy places already." So gossipy in fact, I later found out, that if you step on someone's toes you are likely to be run out of town." Word will get around, vicious rumors will be spread and, everyone else will turn against you. In fact one of the main reasons people leave caravan parks is because they can't stand the torment and frustration from their neighbours anymore.
Aside from having to deal with a gossip and the lack of privacy, with people knowing when you go to the shower and how long for and sometimes even why, there is a constant fear amongst caravan residents that they could be kicked out at any moment. There are often fights between the managers and tenants, such fights use to result in the tenant being kicked out straight away. In recent years however CTAS has been educating Caravan Park managers and residents of their rights and proper channels they should use to resolve disputes. Unfortunately there are still some things that are yet to be changed such as the overdue rent rule. The Caravan Parks Statement of Rights and Duties states that if a tenant owes in rent for more than seven days they can be asked to leave the following day. Now compare that to the 2 weeks notice that a landlord of a house must give (even then he has to take the case to tribunal, so it's usually longer) and you will see that this is unfair.
All rules and regulations aside the main thing that is bad for residents of caravan parks is not the GST, (in fact this area only took two calls about the GST and caravan park tenancy, none of which were complaints) it is the stigma attached to where they live. Whenever people hear they live in a caravan they are looked down upon and naturally this makes them feel uneasy. The stigma is so bad that residents either get postal boxes or when writing on forms (e.g. Job Application Forms) they use their parent's address to save from the embarrassment.
We treat going to a caravan park as a bit of fun as part of a holiday, we're there for a couple of weeks at the most then we get to go back to our regular homes. We rarely get looked down upon for where we live (unless we live in Eaglehawk, which in my opinion has the same unjust stigma as a caravan park). And we rarely have to wait in line with strangers to go to the toilet. My only explanation for our "general" attitude toward those who, whether they choose to or not, live in a caravan park is that the 200,000+ people who live in caravan parks permanently each year live in such a diverse and different culture that we are ill informed of. They are not how we first perceive them.
