Tamara's Story.  Teacher, 47 years old

Tamara says she was just an ordinary person, working part time and running her home, when she became suddenly ill, suffering pains in her head, heart palpitations, pains in her bones, tinnitus, poor short-term memory, red skin and eyes, a rash on her arms, difficulty sleeping and a general feeling of fatigue and being unwell.

A few months later, she discovered that a smart meter had been installed in her next door neighbour's house, directly opposite, and only a few metres from her kitchen window. The timing of the installation coincided with the time Tamara became ill.

Also attached to the outside of the meter box was a small disc which contained extra aerials.

She has now been diagnosed with EMR sickness and is under medical care.

She has a metal medical implant, and hopes that this complication will not further compromise her  health.

Tamara has had to rearrange her whole house, moving her bed into a small room at the back of the house. She is unable to work due to not being able to spend any length of time near WiFi emissions.

Like hundreds of others, she has written letters and phoned government authorities, met with State and Federal Ministers and contacted her power company seeking help.

She is refusing to have a smart meter on her home and has locked her meter box, cutting a viewing hole in the cover so that the old analogue meter can be read manually. She has also erected 'no trespass' signs at the entrance to her property. 

Her power company finally complied by removing the outside aerial from her neighbour's smart meter ( not the actual meter) and promised her a postponement of her installation until December 2013.

After that date, the power utilities current mandate to install smart meters will expire and the Victorian government will have to determine a new strategy.