The City of Melbourne is not
banning homelessness. It is not illegal to be homeless.
The proposed changes to the
Local Law are focused on protecting public amenity, disability access, and
increasing Council's powers to remove items that are left unattended in public
places.
The penalty for camping in
public places has not changed. However, we have proposed a penalty for leaving
items unattended in a public place. No move-on provisions are proposed.
In the past two years there has
been a 74 per cent increase in the number of people sleeping rough in the
municipality.
We don't want to accept a
situation where large groups of people see sleeping on a city street as
the best long-term choice they have available.
We don't want to see people
setting up camps that affect the safety, amenity and accessibility for everyone
using public spaces.
From 12 January to 1 February,
the City of Melbourne collected 2750 kg of waste during clean-up operations
across the CBD. This includes cleaning and removing discarded bedding, general
waste and office furniture.
The City of Melbourne has more
than doubled our homelessness budget in 2016-17. We are now spending $3.5
million a year on a coordinated approach to rough sleeping. This includes
direct investment in the creation of a night safe space with integrated
services, and an integrated street response team that will connect rough sleepers
with outreach services and support.
A public notice on the proposed change
to the Local Law will be posted on 16 February 2017 and members of the public
will be provided with at least 28 days' notice to make written submissions.
The Council's
Submissions (Section 223) Committee will consider submissions received and then
make a recommendation to Council on whether it should make changes to the Local
Law. A further management report will then be prepared for the Council to
consider.