<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A charity boss has condemned a </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/melbourne" rel="" target="_blank" title="Melbourne"><span>Melbourne</span></a><span> council's decision to introduce laws which will allow officials to seize belongings from rough sleepers as "baffling" and "abhorrent".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The City of Port Phillip Council, which captures suburbs including St Kilda, Elwood and Windsor, voted in favour of council officers confiscating and storing "encampment equipment" from </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/homelessness" rel="" target="_blank" title="people experiencing homelessness."><span>people experiencing homelessness.</span></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>While the council claims the laws will be applied as a "last resort basis", the soon-to-be introduced powers have been met with swift backlash from homelessness advocates.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/pcos-pmos-name-change-2026-australian-women-fight-for-condition-to-be-renamed/c971014b-74af-4c13-b637-4c23a65817ad" rel="" target="_blank" title="Lorna's chronically-misdiagnosed illness now has a new name"><strong><span>Lorna's chronically-misdiagnosed illness now has a new name</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE: </span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/federal-budget-2026-negative-gearing-property-investor-new-build-exemption-trap-interview/3bb1deac-b1a4-44f1-b3bb-8745049014cc" rel="" target="_blank" title="Don't fall for this negative gearing 'trap,' property investor warns"><strong><span>Don't fall for this negative gearing 'trap,' property investor warns</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>St Vincent de Paul Society Victoria group chief executive Charlie Spendlove told </span><a href="https://www.nine.com.au/?rf=true" rel="" target="" title="Nine.com.au"><span>Nine.com.au</span></a><span> the council is "taking the shirt off peoples' backs who are already doing it tough".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She said it simply won't change anything and that efforts would be better spent consulting with the local community about how to provide better access to crisis accommodation.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/port-phillip-council/b8ad40f6-07b2-4ab0-b204-0bc85cc6a623" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The mayor said this amendment isn't a solution to homelessness. So what is it about? Is it about tidy streets? Just literally bundling the problem up in a box and hoping it goes away?" Spendlove said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The face of homelessness has changed, particularly with the cost of living and housing prices. It is a social emergency.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"So this just beggars belief."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The local law change will allow council officers to take encampment belongings, which may include sleeping bags or tents, and store them in council service centres.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>City of Port Phillip Council Mayor Alex Makin said the amendment was introduced in response to "anti-social behaviour" and will only target camps which create "safety or sustained amenity impacts".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"No fines will be issued and belongings will be available for collection free of charge," Makin said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Our local law provisions continue to allow camping on council land if someone doesn't have a home or has complex needs.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Our officers will receive specific trauma-informed training before the amendment comes into effect on 1 June."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/federal-budget-2026-boost-juice-founder-lashes-federal-budget/be5899df-8057-4d61-a06f-828bb1430f73" target="_blank"><strong><span>Boost Juice founder lashes budget tax reform</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>s understood that around two dozen rough sleepers are known to stay in the City of Port Phillip Council area.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>A council survey of 708 residents found 76.1 per cent opposed the amendment.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>However, it was passed after five councillors voted in favour of it last week, while three opposed the law.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"When so many people tell you it's a bad decision, it baffles me that [they] doubled down on a decision instead of talking to the experts," Spendlove said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It just deepens the trauma. It's just abhorrent."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Spendlove said the council has ignored the inconvenient truth behind homelessness: it can happen to anyone at any time.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Sleeping rough is not the result of "bad choices", she said. It is often due to a series of crises.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It is completely ignorant for the reality, each one of us... no one is immune," she added.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"It doesn't matter who you are in the world, you're only two or three crises away from being homeless."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>EXCLUSIVE: </span></strong><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/british-expat-why-she-moved-back-to-australia-after-returning-to-england/75109d3d-f00d-416b-bbd3-fdae6d0ca001" target="_blank" title="Expat Annie decided to move back to the UK. She lasted just six months"><strong><span>Expat Annie decided to move back to the UK. She lasted just six months</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Single women aged over 55 are the fastest-growing cohort of people experiencing homelessness in Australia, </span><a href="https://chp.org.au/article/international-womens-day-ending-homelessness-for-older-women-in-victoria/" rel="" target="_blank" title="according to the Council to Homeless Persons."><span>according to the Council to Homeless Persons.</span></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Spendlove said she has seen heartbreaking examples of women escaping family violence in Victoria, only to end up in an encampment or sleeping rough.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In one case, a woman was found sleeping in a tent in a park with her children.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>And another mother was helped after she slept in her car in a wooded area with her four children.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Spendlove warned the City of Port Phillip may have set a precedent that will harm rough sleepers all over the state.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I'm really, really worried for Victoria, if Port Phillip [is] going to wear this badge of honour as the first council to do this... shame on them," she added.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Homelessness Australia chief executive Kate Colvin also denounced the council's decision.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>She described the local law amendment as "draconian".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"When someone has nowhere safe to go, taking their bedding or moving them from one public place to another simply shifts the crisis around and makes people less safe and connected to support when they need it most," Colvin said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"What is needed is more homes, more service capacity, and the kind of practical support that helps people move into safety and stay there."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Makin acknowledged the "diverse views" but added that "the common ground is that everyone wants improved safety in our public spaces, including for people sleeping rough".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Support will always be offered first to address the underlying causes of behaviour," Makin added.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Other Australian councils have faced criticism over punitive attempts to curb homelessness.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The City of Perth in February engaged the Public Transport Authority (PTA) to place speakers which emitted shrill sounds 24/7 under the Lord Street overpass in East Perth </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/perth-council-installs-noise-device-to-deter-homeless-community-from-camping-on-cycle-path/4c832790-81c7-47d0-922f-6005cee0831f" rel="" target="" title="in a bid to move along homeless camps."><span>in a bid to move along homeless camps.</span></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>This was disabled after outcry from advocates and politicians.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In 2023, the City of Bunbury </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/the-wiggles-slam-west-australian-council-for-blaring-hot-potato-song-at-homeless-people/5e48513a-d598-44c7-a324-d35502670ac4" target="_blank" title="played The Wiggles' song Hot Potato on repeat"><span>played The Wiggles' song </span><em><span>Hot Potato</span></em><span> on repeat</span></a><span> to drive rough sleepers from gathering at a shelter.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/wa-government-department-criticised-after-attempts-to-deter-homeless-with-sprinkler-system/fef7abd2-081f-48fb-b227-1bb2cfbe8146" target="_blank" title="The King Street Arts Centre in Perth also faced backlash in 2015"><span>The King Street Arts Centre in Perth also faced backlash in 2015</span></a><span> after using a sprinkler system in a stairwell to stop people from sleeping there.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><em><span>NEVER MISS A STORY:</span></em></strong><span> </span><strong><em><span>Get your breaking news and exclusive stories first by following us across all platforms.</span></em></strong></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><ul><li><strong><em><span>Download the 9NEWS App here via</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://apps.apple.com/au/app/9news/id1010533727" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Apple</span></em></strong></a><span> </span><strong><em><span>and</span></em></strong><span> </span><a href="https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=nineNewsAlerts.nine.com&amp;hl=en_AU&amp;pli=1" target="_blank"><strong><em><span>Google Play</span></em></strong></a></li><li><strong><em><span>Make 9News your preferred source on Google 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