While many Melburnians were proud of their suburban homes and gardens in the late 19th century, there was considerable poverty in the city, especially in the inner suburbs where many of the working poor, recent migrants, the unemployed, elderly and sick lived. During the 1930s Depression one dedicated campaigner brought the plight of these residents to the public’s notice.

"A lane off a lane. All the houses face back-yards. The newest houses. Those the near end have no windows in front. Most of them have their own little gardens. The woman living in the first house with the verandah was so desperately poor that she resolved to save the maternity bonus, and so, with her last baby had neither anaesthetic nor doctor."

"Collingwood. Open air wash-house. Typical of thousands."

After encountering an inner city slum in the 1920s, Fredrick Oswald (Os) Barnett, an accountant and devout Methodist, campaigned to establish homes for children removed from the slums. But he soon realised, “You can’t lift every baby out of the slum…It meant lifting the whole family out. That would mean slum abolition. It was a natural conclusion…”. In the 1930s he waged a concerted campaign for housing reform to remove the sub-standard conditions found in many of these areas.

Barnett was an astute political campaigner who coordinated letter writing campaigns and lectured throughout Victoria using many of his own photographs.

These poignant and striking images are reminiscent of American Walker Evans’ famous photographs of poor American sharecropping families published in 1941. Barnett’s commerce degree thesis on the economics of the slums was published as a booklet, The Unsuspected Slums in 1933.

Carlow Place is off Rathdowne Street, Carlton. The pool in the foreground was the drainage from a stable.

"This is the family who, when sent to school were sent home because they had measles, however, on a medical examination being made, they were discovered to be flea-bites."

This house is built on to the rear of an allotment facing Barkly Street."

"These houses are built on a depth of 13’, which also includes the front garden. There is no back yard, the right-of-way does duty as drying-ground. Notice the props and clothes hung out to dry. The ramshackle shed contains lavatory. "

"It is stated that there is at least one child in every house in this street who has had diphtheria. The conditions of the gutter as shown in the photo would tend to support this contention" - F. Oswald Barnett

"Both were under the influence of liquor. The doctor with me, said that one baby had been very ill, and had recovered, but now would die owing to neglect."

"Carlton. Wash-house and bath-room 48 Palmerston Street. The only water laid on is the tap over the gully trap. The only washing convenience the hand basin on the box. The piece of canvas was erected for the purpose of keeping the wood dry" - F. Oswald Barnett

"... showing how two adults and eight children can live in a three-roomed house."

Barnett took the Victorian Premier (Sir) Albert Dunstan and other politicians on tours through the poverty stricken neighborhoods and public facilities.

After one tour it was said the Premier was so overcome he couldn’t sleep for days. In 1936 Dunstan established the Slum Abolition Board, while in 1938 Barnett became vice-chairman of the newly established Housing Commission of Victoria.

A house made wholly of corrugated iron. Oswald Barnett stands in street.

Dudley Flats was the popular name for the waste-grounds in West Melbourne where many of the city's homeless lived.

"A 'Dudley Mansion.' The kitchen is the front room, behind is the bedroom, which is papered with bills, salvaged from the tip. No blankets, but cleanly washed bags."

The bedding includes old coats and clothing as well as blankets.

This photograph shows the Victorian Premier of the time, Sir Albert Dunstan, entering a condemned house.

"his only bathroom on a cold and frosty morning".

Barnett wrote many books and pamphlets on the issues of housing, poverty, and even a book of revised nursery rhymes, since he believed all the traditional ones had “very unhappy endings”.

He was one of the few public housing advocates who objected to the construction of high rise flats for public housing in 1952.

The State Library of Victoria has an extensive collection of photographs taken by Barnett and his fellow campaigners in the 1930s and 1940s.

Many were used as lantern slides for public lectures on Melbourne slum housing and conditions and to illustrate government reports and pamphlets.

A hand pulls back an illustrated curtain to reveal the slums behind the public face of the city of Melbourne.

This flyer was used by Barnett to promote his public housing campaigns.