Highlights: Gray report well received by councillors; feedback invited on controversial temporary no encampment zones amendment to local laws; consultation closes 29 June.
Councillors voted unanimously to immediately implement 10 of Ian Gray’s recommendations and consider the remaining recommendations with stakeholders and the community. They also voted unanimously to refine protocols between the Council, service providers, and Victoria Police to support the current Community Amenity Local Law 2023.
However, in a split vote, a majority of councillors voted to invite community consultation on a controversial local laws amendment regarding encampments. This is a consultation-only stage, not a final decision. The possible amendment ruled out fines but enabled the Council to declare temporary no-encampment zones and ultimately remove the camps’ equipment after the provision of outreach and support services, where individuals have refused both a request and then a warning to remove the material from the designated area.
Scroll down for consultation timeline and links.
47 speakers plus last-minute manoeuvres by councillors
During over two hours of passionate and civil public testimony, speakers demonstrated the depth of feeling and the divergence of perspectives in the community.
With the long-awaited and much-anticipated release of Ian Gray’s recommendations from the community safety roundtable, the scene was set for a real discussion about what to do next.
It was apparent that various groups had rallied their supporters to provide testimonial evidence to the councillors, as shown by online calls for supporters to attend the meeting.
Like many current issues, opinions were sharply divided, and any middle ground was treated with contempt by both sides.
What TWiSK witnessed on Wednesday night was a council seeking to navigate a minefield of explosive opinions while taking advice and listening – a delicate dance indeed.
Something different must be done
But first, let’s consider the common ground. In one way or another, all public testimonies argued that something must be done.
Some speakers highlighted the fear and anxiety they felt on local streets and in their homes. They saw encampments as vectors of crime, anti-social behaviour, drug abuse, and exploitation. They were very concerned that authorities, including the council, social welfare agencies, and the police, were not taking enough action or were taking the wrong action. They saw crime, both petty and violent, going unchallenged and even tolerated.
Others saw homelessness and street encampments as a failure of civil society to support the most vulnerable. They saw the need for a more compassionate response that considered the basic human needs of people living on the streets. They pointed to the absurd futility of fining people who have nothing. They urged and applauded a commitment to basic human rights.
The wicked problem facing the council is that all of the above might be true simultaneously. The question is, what can and should the council and the community do next?
The Gray Report is one step towards an answer
TWiSK has already reported that the Gray Report was insightful, streetwise, and reasonable. We urge you to read the report.
Gray found a community disturbed by anxiety and fear. He found welfare agencies struggling to help their clients survive. He found a council under intense pressure to do more. He found a police force that was inadequately resourced for the task.
TWiSK would also assert that the people in the encampments are also likely living in profound anxiety and fear. They are involved in a daily struggle to survive on the mean streets of St Kilda – regular people ravaged by poverty, abuse, drugs and alcohol, and mental illness.
How did councillors respond?
Across an eventful evening, the Councillors replaced the core of the officers’ recommendations with three alternate resolutions. Two were passed unanimously, while the third passed on division.
Ten recommendations received immediate approval.
Working behind the scenes, Councillors Buckingham and Makin proposed a recommendation that immediately endorsed ten recommendations from the Gray Report.
Councillor Buckingham informed the council that these ten actions broadly aligned with existing council policies and budgets, allowing for immediate implementation.
Included among the ten were:
– Maintain and enhance existing partnership protocols among CoPP, Victoria Police, and key service providers.
– Continue to support and adequately fund effective service providers, particularly those working with high-impact cohorts (individuals leaving prison, mental health, or rehabilitation facilities).
– Provide local law officers with protective gear and essential equipment for emergency situations and site management.
– Urgently review and modify problematic public spaces.
This motion was carried unanimously.
Endorsement of protocols and community engagement
In response to the local laws review, Councillors Makin and Mears proposed a resolution in two parts. The first part sought a commitment from Victoria Police to partner with the Council to enact protocols supporting people usually exempt under Local Law Clause 42, Camping on Council Land. The protocols outlined a three-tier response to homelessness on public land (assessment, intervention, and enforcement) involving the council, agencies, and police.
This was carried unanimously.
Division on scope of community engagement
Changing Local Laws is a lengthy and specific process requiring community consultation and higher legal review to ensure compatibility with other laws.
A motion from Councillors Makin and Mear proposed sending a controversial change out for community consultation – not to endorse it, but to discuss it.
The change to Local Laws would allow the CEO to temporarily designate an area as a no encampment zone. The consultation would note:
“that such a designation could be considered an exceptional circumstance after existing and enhanced assertive outreach models with service providers and supportive conversations had failed;
“that enforcement of the potential amendment would not include fines but rather the removal and impoundment of equipment following the provision of outreach and support services when individuals have refused both a request and a warning to remove the material from the designated area.”
Councillor comments on the designated area were sharply divided. Opponents of the motion argued it was too harsh and unnecessary if the protocols were effectively applied, describing it as a move-on law in disguise. Multiple councillors stated they were not necessarily endorsing this change but were committed to hearing community input.
The motion was carried:
FOR: Councillors Jay, Hardy, Makin, Mears, Cunsolo, and Thomann
AGAINST: Councillors Halliday, Crawford, and Buckingham.
TWiSK invited the councillors who voted against the motion to supply a quotation.
Cr Justin Halliday responded with this statement:
“We all want to deliver effective interventions that improve safety on our streets, but the local law proposal fails to explain how they will lead to any change. The key to improving safety is the development and implementation of the protocol, a return to a community policing model, regular joint patrols between Police and Council’s local laws staff, and implementation of the Roundtable’s recommendations.”
Cr Libby Buckingham responded with this statement
“The Ian Gray report provides the City of Port Phillip with an opportunity to implement realistic solutions to improve the safety and amenity of our streets, and the lives of people sleeping rough. We need all partners including the Council, Police and community service organisations to work together and take action that will be both effective and compassionate.”
Note that TWiSK always welcomes comments from councillors – at anytime on any subject.
Feel Safe. Be Safe. Consultation timeline
Have Your Say website
Consultation Phase 1 ends 29 June 2025
This engagement helps determine priorities and actions to be included in the draft Community Safety Plan and potential amendments to the Community Amenity Local Law 2023
A Council report will be presented in late August/early September 2025 with a draft of the Community Safety Plan 2025-2029 including actions over the five years of the Plan.
In late September the draft Community Safety Plan 2025-2029 Feel Safe. Be Safe. (working title) will be released for Phase 2 of public feedback.
