A couple of years ago, the heat in David Kerry's apartment complex reached unbearable levels.
It was the height of summer, meaning it was common for temperatures inside Mr Kerry's place to go beyond 40 degrees Celsius.
But this time it was so bad he decided to grab some sheets, walk out the door, and sleep on the concrete stairwell connecting the 11th and 12th floors.
He stayed there for more than a week.
Mr Kerry isn't alone in taking extreme measures to stay cool in Melbourne's public housing towers, where air conditioning is a luxury few have access to.
"I've actually seen people taken out in ambulances in the peak of that hot season."
Many of the towers, dotted around Melbourne's inner suburbs, were built in the 1960s to house some of the state's most vulnerable.
Residents said temperatures in the concrete structures could be well above what is measured outside on hot days.
Air conditioned common rooms remain closed
Soaring temperatures in the towers have been a long-running issue. Most apartments do not have air conditioning or ceiling fans, meaning many residents sought refuge in cooled common rooms.
Residents say those rooms have been locked for nearly two years during the pandemic, despite density limits being eased across Victoria and a widespread relaxing of COVID-19 restrictions.
Some are confused about why shopping centres and entertainment venues are open, but the only place that can provide respite from the heat in their building remains shut.
In a statement, a Department of Families, Fairness and Housing spokesman said the rooms had been mostly closed "so that they can play a crucial part of the public health response to COVID-19, including as vaccination hubs and health concierge services".
"On days of extreme heat, these rooms are opened for use as cooler places for the purpose of heat relief," he said.
However this has been rejected by several residents the ABC has spoken to, who live in different towers across Melbourne. They said repeated pleas to building managers to open the rooms had been knocked back over the last two summers.
Residents go to pokies, shopping centres to escape heat
With the common room in her Kensington building closed, Erika Lodge said there was a mass exodus each warm summer morning, with elderly residents spending entire days in local shopping centres or pokies venues.
"Most of them go to the pokies and just sit there and drink coffee, because coffee you can get for nothing. Some spend money, some don't," Ms Lodge said.
Ms Lodge considers herself one of the lucky ones. Last year, the housing department installed a portable air conditioner in her 12th floor apartment after a doctor wrote a letter saying the prolonged heat was affecting her health.
But it was a double-edged sword, with Ms Lodge's quarterly electricity bills jumping from $100 to $500.
"I don't get that much money being on a pension, so like everyone else you've got to make the money stretch," she said.
Peter Turner lives a few floors down from Ms Lodge, and has been recently diagnosed with chronic lung disease.
With no air conditioning and windows that only wind open a few inches, he shuts his blinds and stays in near darkness during summer heatwaves. Even three or four cold showers a day make little difference, he said.
Tenants' group calls for mandatory air-con
Research published in the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction last month found 354 Australians had died during heatwave conditions between 2001 and 2018, with most of those occurring indoors in older housing stock.
Older age, socio-economic disadvantage, disabilities and the non-use of air conditioning were some of the factors that increased the risk of death, the study's authors wrote.
Katelyn Butterss, the chief executive of the Victorian Public Tenants Association, said air conditioning should be mandated in public housing, bringing it into line with heating.
"If people have an air conditioner, they can make their own decisions about how to use it to manage their electricity bills. They're more than capable of coming to that decision themselves," she said.
Sweltering Cities, an advocacy group that campaigns for more livable and sustainable cities, does not go as far as wanting air conditioning mandated.
However its executive director Emma Bacon said properties needed to be safe and resilient to both hot and cold extremes.
"This problem is only going to get worse year after year," Ms Bacon said.
State promises cost-effective, better-regulated homes
A Department of Families, Fairness and Housing spokesman said about 29 per cent of Victorian public housing had air conditioning installed.
The department plans to upgrade energy efficiency in 35,000 properties by mid-2024, which will include installing cooling systems.
"Reverse cycle air conditioning is installed as standard in newly constructed public housing." the spokesman said.
New public homes and apartments will also have six or seven-star energy ratings, he said.
"The new homes will be more cost-effective to live in, minimising energy costs by being cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter," he said.
