The City of Melbourne has proposed a change to the Activities Local Law 2009 to increase the Council’s ability to remove items left unattended in public places.

The proposed change will improve public amenity and disability access, however will potentially impact some of the city’s homeless.

Being homeless is not illegal, but the number of people sleeping rough has grown in the past two years and the effect of this growth has been an increase in homeless camps in and around the city centre.

As the City of Melbourne states on its website, people can become homeless for many reasons, with triggers such as unemployment, housing affordability, mental illness, family violence or substance abuse.

The City of Melbourne is working with service providers to help people find suitable housing and pathways out of homelessness.

It also has a responsibility to ensure public places are clean, safe and accessible for everyone.

Homeless camps left unattended impact foot traffic to local businesses and diminishes the visitor experience in Melbourne.

Tourism and hospitality businesses are vital to the success of our capital city and State, contributing more than $20 billion to the Victorian economy and more than 200,000 jobs. We must support these businesses in Melbourne’s CBD by minimising impact on them.

The City of Melbourne is calling for submissions on the proposed amendments to the local law through an online survey or formal written submissions.

The Victorian Chamber of Commerce and Industry encourage all of its members operating in the City of Melbourne municipality to contribute to a survey and have their say.