WHERE ARE WE GOING AUSTRALIA?
Background regarding proposed changes to City of Melbourne's Bylaws and its impact on homeless people.
On 7th February 2017, controversial proposed changes to the City of Melbourne's bylaws were passed narrowly- 5 votes to 4. This was followed by an invitation for public submissions, before Council makes its final decision.
Catch 22
Mayor Doyle is keen to point out that the proposed change in the city's by-law will not make homelessness illegal, per se. But in effect it will, and it is disingenuous to suggest otherwise.
The change to the bylaw will broaden the definition of 'camping', so that it no longer is confined to a vehicle, tent, caravan or temporary accommodation- but can also cover 'rough sleeping'. Camping in a public space is not permissible without a permit. The amended by-law will also mean that homeless people can have their unattended possessions confiscated, resulting in a fine to get them back.
As part of enforcing this law, homeless people can be fined, charged or they can be 'moved on' by an authorised officer for non-compliance ie. camping in a public place or leaving items unattended.
For more details see
https://www.justiceconnect.org.au/our-programs/homeless-law/law-and-policy-reform/infringements-and-public-space-offences/melbourne-dont-criminalise-homelessness
Here is Friends of Public Housing Vic's second submission to City of Melbourne regarding the proposed changes to the city's bylaws.
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We
oppose the proposed changes and amendments to this legislation, because
the proposed changes are an attack on the basic human rights of
homeless people.
The Causes - Why has homelessness risen in the inner-city?
Since
2009, Australian states have been granted billions of dollars in
funding to address the housing crisis for ordinary Australians on low
incomes and to address homelessness. ( National Affordable Housing Agreement
-NAHA ) The scandalous result is that there has been no appreciable
increase in housing, and it is unsure where all this money has gone…it
has certainly not gone into creating additional housing for those who
need it most. At the same time there has been a decrease in the number
of Public Housing properties available, and an accompanying escalation
of homelessness.
Another
housing agreement funded with taxpayers money- the National Rental
Affordability Scheme (NRAS ) - was found to have been rorted. Half of
NRAS allocations went to universities, and was used to build studio
apartments with the aim of attracting overseas students, largely from
wealthy families, to enroll in their universities. Although this is a
valid undertaking for tertiary institutions to embark on- the purpose of
NRAS was to house people on low to moderate incomes, not to bankroll
the agenda of universities.
Considering housing scandals such as these, down-played by much of the
‘mainstream media’ - locked as they are in partisan politics- it should
come as no surprise that we now have homeless people camping on the
streets. The rise in homelessness is the direct result of bad housing
policies and their implementation by both major political parties.
The
point that many people find hard to believe - unless they’ve had direct
experience of the system -is that there is simply nowhere for people to
go… Euphemisms such as ‘pathways out of homelessness’ presupposes that
there are properties available where homeless people can go and live.
The ‘pathways’ can be better described as revolving doors. The only
‘choice’ available for homeless people is overcrowded boarding houses,
where they often report having to live in intolerable conditions. Its
either that, or the street.
The
stealthy privatisation of public housing in Australia, and the handing
over of governmental responsibilities to both private and quasi-private
Community Housing will guarantee that the problem of homelessness will
only get worse.
The
‘solution’ is not to take away the Human Rights of people made homeless
by housing policy failures, and thereby make it even harder for them to
survive. Neither is it acceptable to discourage, ( and later prohibit? )
members of the public, via an expensive propaganda campaign, from
giving food, money and goods to homeless people.
The
whole by-law amendment is really just an attempt to collectively avoid
responsibility for the problem of escalating homelessness, and to make
the problem go away by conveniently victimising homeless people and
trying to sweep them out-of-sight and out-of-mind.
It is both hypocritical and very disturbing.
People lose their rights by degrees …
Pushing
problems out of sight and thereby trying to make them disappear, solves
nothing and is a dangerous tactic. Eroding people’s rights is a
dangerous tactic. Other Councils may well follow suit and homeless
people will end up as pariahs and outcasts- pushed from pillar to post.
Lawyers
opposing the change in the by-laws by City of Melbourne have argued
that it could lead to homeless people being forced into the criminal
justice system. Indeed this is a global trend.
The
US, which chose to privatise public housing rather than to expand it,
now has gaols which have become ‘catch-alls’ for people with a whole
range of social problems -including homelessness. Private companies in
the US have built and taken over the government’s responsibility for
running these gaols on the condition that a quota of the beds remain
full- the usual contract between corporations and US Governments being
around 90%. This means that there is pressure to incarcerate people for
committing less serious offenses -in order to reach the agreed upon
quota.
Since
the problems of homelessness, lack of public housing and the
privatisation of this public asset are interrelated, let me draw your
attention to a policy put forward by the peak body for public tenants-
the Victorian Public Tenants Association- VPTA. As a public tenant, I
do not feel that the VPTA speaks for me- and I know many public tenants
who share this view.
In
2013 the VPTA proposed its first series of Policy Position Statements.
One of these policies stated that high security ‘facilities’ ( basically
prisons? ) should be built in rural Victoria so that people with
long-term issues ( eg failed tenancies /homelessness cycles ) can be
kept involuntarily if need be. These ‘Live-In Treatment Centres’
should be built for the purpose of detaining and educating the residents until they are deemed fit to ‘live successfully in
mainstream society’. The VPTA recommended this course of action as a
‘cost effective solution towards breaking the failed tenancy cycle’.
!!??
Of
course this begs the question, ‘What is their crime?’ -which brings us
back to the creeping criminalisation of homelessness and the erosion of
the rights of people who are ‘in the way’ and politically powerless -
such as homeless people.
Already
the Andrews Labor government has decided to build a high security
prison where young offenders- not yet adults -will be incarcerated. This
is very, very dubious.
Removing
people’s rights, by degrees, and thinking that pushing a difficult
social problem out of sight actually solves anything, can lead us down a
very slippery slope … which is why the City of Melbourne Councillors’
decision regarding this change to the by-laws is so very important.
It
seems that a great many people in public positions submit to pressures
either from very powerful interest groups, or from within their own
party. Sometimes against their better judgement, they take the path of
least resistance. The problem of homelessness is very unlikely to affect
politicians personally. Homelessness is, of course, a class issue.
Changing
the definition of ‘camping’ as a way of discriminating against homeless
people, has been implemented in other parts of the world - with
disastrous consequences. So has the privatisation by stealth of public
housing… This change to the by-law is nothing new or original. We are
simply taking our cue from other countries. Instead Australia should
exercise some independence and do things differently.
According
to Human Rights lawyers, the amendments are unlawful under the Charter.
We wonder how this by-law will be passed by the City of Melbourne as
complying with the Human Rights Charter. ( Council Proposal Note 11.2 )
No doubt the spin doctors will find a way… a lot of fluffy talk such as
‘used with discretion’ and ‘with the co-ordination of the service
providers’. Though how the service providers are expected to ‘magic up’
actual housing is anyone’s guess.
Homeless people are citizens and they have rights.
If
the visual impact of homeless people on our streets is disturbing and
upsetting - as it should be - then we need to recognise the very real
failures of past and present housing policies, and acknowledge that in
putting profits and business interests above the needs of ordinary
citizens - governments themselves have created this dire situation.
We need to find ways to house people so that they will no longer be forced to live on the streets.
It
is an unusual situation that such an important decision, which has very
serious ramifications, can rest with a very small number of
Councillors.
We
sincerely hope that Council will make what we believe to be the only
right decision- and vote to scrap these proposed amendments of the
city's by-laws.
Fiona Ross - Friends of Public Housing Vic
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Sources
'VPTA News' June 2013, p.5
“
the United States relies more on jails and prisons for people who
otherwise would have been diverted to non-institutionalized care (i.e.,
people with mental health or substance abuse issues, the homeless, the
youth)”
The Australian Feb 10- 9Bn Home Affordability scheme to be dumped.
‘The
Dangers of Detention: the impact of Incarcerating Youth in Detention
and other secure Facilities’ by Barry Holman and Jason Ziedenberg
https://theconversation.com/america-is-moving-to-end-its-use-of-private-prisons-should-australia-follow-suit-64310
