Lesa Scholl
7 March 2025
People experiencing homelessness could be criminalised under an inner-city council’s proposal to fine people sleeping rough on its streets, faith and community leaders say.
Port Phillip City Council is considering the fines after a councillor proposed by-law amendments, including outlawing sleeping, lying or sitting on, and residing in temporary accommodation on footpaths or Council land.
Faith and homelessness advocates believe this could penalise already vulnerable people in the community and add to their disadvantage, including potentially eroding their physical and mental health.
Homelessness support charity network Stable One chief executive Katherine Kirkwood said she was horrified that the proposal was being considered.
“There are not enough houses for people. There are not enough homes,” Mrs Kirkwood said. “It’s literally pushing people further out of their communities, out of places where they might actually have some relationships.”
She said she would love to see more communities joining together to do something constructive about homelessness.
“Stable One stands very firmly against any approach that seeks to criminalise living rough because it’s just penalising people who are already vulnerable and pushing them further into crisis,” she said.
Mrs Kirkwood said Stable One’s work was important because it offered connection and treated their guests like human beings.
Stable One guest “Sam” said “Just having a decent meal has improved my mental health – a nice shower and breakfast each morning made me feel like a human again.”
“Joe” said “They showed me there was no shame in my situation and that I had a lot more in me than I thought.”
Read more: Homes for homeless closer because of agreement
Many Rooms kitchen coordinator Peter Sellars said the lack of emergency accommodation was a real problem for people who were in desperate need.
He said although Many Rooms fed people on the doorstep of St Paul’s Cathedral, many of them went further out of the city to sleep to places like St Kilda.
He said one of the men who came regularly said he would now have to be more cautious about where he slept.
Another young girl had been on the streets for more than four months and was scared to go anywhere.
“I gave her a blanket, I gave her a windshield, I gave her a bag of clothes, but she wanted housing, and she was very scared,” he said.
“Feeding is only a band-aid.”
Emergency relief organisation Boroondara Community Outreach coordinator the Reverend Natalie Dixon-Monu said a significant number of people sleeping rough experienced mental illness and trauma compounded by complex medical conditions and self-medicating.
“If you’re a paranoid schizophrenic, you can’t live in a rooming house with 45 other people who themselves are paranoid schizophrenics or drug users,” she said.
She said the current public housing was problematic because it was one-size-fits-all and was run privately for profit.
“We need to provide not-for-profit supported housing so people with chronic mental illness can be in an environment where they can be supported,” Ms Dixon-Monu said.
Read more: Helping people many have shunned matters to Natalie Dixon-Monu
Chair of the Melbourne diocese’s Social Responsibility Committee the Reverend Dr Gordon Preece said the housing crisis meant older women were the most likely to become homeless.
“You need some form of wrap-around care,” he said.
“It’s medical care, there might be financial advice, there might be a range of things that people occupy themselves with,” he said. “It’s not just a roof over their head and some food.”
Former St Kilda mayor the Reverend Tim Costello said St Kilda was the first council to put rate-payer dollars into social housing, but state and federal funding was needed.
“The big dollars are state and federal dollars for housing. No council can be left to do that,” he said.
Mr Costello said it was criminal to have so failed to have enough emergency housing.
He said in any western society in the world, 10 to 15% of its population would be at risk of homelessness due to domestic violence, addiction issues or mental health issues.
Mr Costello said there was no mystery as to why Melbourne had a homelessness and attendant crime situation, because it only provided emergency housing for three per cent.
The Department of Families, Fairness and Housing 2023–24 annual said a total of 101,804 clients received social housing assistance.
Homelessness Australia chief executive Kate Colvin said the priority was providing social housing, not criminalising people at their most vulnerable.
“Moving people on who have nowhere to go is cruel,” she said. “It won’t help communities, but it will harm those who are already struggling.”
Port Phillip mayor Louise Crawford said homelessness is a complex issue requiring compassion and a range of agencies working together.
“Rather than targeting individuals, our recent Notice of Motion was intended to help us better understand what we can do as a Council to help address encampments on public land, which have raised safety concerns in our community,” she said.
She said the Council would consider the option for changes to local laws at their May meeting.
“If Council then supports proceeding with any local law changes, the next step would be community engagement,” she said.
Ms Crawford said there would be a roundtable on the underlying causes of homelessness including representatives from police and service providers in March.
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