Brenda was only five days into living in her new Gold Coast rental with her six dogs when something started to feel off. She said she started feeling itchy, developed a red rash and felt "dopey". She would soon discover her home was exposing her and her dogs to methamphetamine . "I didn't know that meth affected people who never used it, or damage meth does to a house after left," Brenda said.
's 2021 Illicit Drug Data Report showed that of the 284 national clandestine lab detections in 2020-21, Victoria accounted for the greatest proportion , followed closely by Queensland . Australia is in a rental crisis , with a national vacancy rate of 1.1 per cent and testing for meth contamination is an uncommon request by renters. Plus, the requirements for owners and agents to disclose whether a property was used to produce methamphetamine differs across jurisdictions.