(image via Urban Seed)
Welfare lobby groups and charities have called on the City of Melbourne to reject by-law amendments which would make it unlawful for homeless people to sleep in public places, saying that the rules will compound the vulnerability of those without shelter whilst failing to reduce the number of people sleeping rough.
In a joint statement, the Council for Homeless Persons, Launch Housing, Melbourne City Mission, the Salvation Army, VincentCare Victoria and Justice Connect have called on Councillors to reject a number of amendments to the City of Melbourne Activities Local Law which are set to be debated on Tuesday.
One such amendment makes it unlawful for a person to ‘camp in or on any public place’ without a permit.
Another would bar people from leaving items unattended within a public place, and would allow for belongings to be confiscated and subsequently sold, destroyed or given away unless a fee is paid within fourteen days.
In its statement, the organisations said the laws would force those without a home into hidden and less safe places.
The organisations say that similar laws have failed and been costly in Los Angeles, where they say that 5,000 people are still sleeping within the 50-block central city area.
The latest moves come amid controversy over moves on the part of authorities to remove a camp of homeless people outside Flinders Street Station who had been spreading their bedding and belongings across the footpath.
The state government recently announced an $8.8 million package to build 30 new permanent modular homes on public land by the end of the year and provide 40 people with transitional housing while the plan is being built.
According to the government, Housing Minister Martin Foley, those sleeping rough in the Melbourne CBD number around 250.
In their statement, the organisations said the state’s housing crisis had been created by a lack of affordable housing.
They said the best ways in which to handing the situation would be for the immediate purchase of new public housing in the short term and measures to deliver more affordable housing over the medium to longer term.
