Crime spike at Carlisle St hostel being used as crisis accommodation

A seedy St Kilda backpackers’ lodge is renting out rooms as crisis accommodation, scaring unsuspecting budget travellers who are barricading their doors as violence and drug use erupts. And a push to shut down the halfway house arrangement has failed.

A St Kilda backpackers’ joint dubbed “crackhead central” is being used as crisis accommodation, with fearful budget travellers reporting drug overdoses and violence.

VCAT documents reveal the notoriously seedy 108-bed St Kilda Hostel has been providing refuge to people referred by public housing agencies, including Launch Housing.

It comes amid a surge in reports from fearful neighbours about drug use and violence, with police regularly called to the Carlisle St accommodation.

Police say crime at and around the St Kilda Hostel in Carlisle St has spiked in recent times. Picture: Norm Oorloff

Port Phillip Council recently tried to stop the hostel from using its rooms as emergency accommodation, telling the state’s planning tribunal the practice was a breach of permit conditions.

Inspector Nigel McGuire-White told the Leader police were keeping a close eye on the hostel and surrounding streets following a spike in call-outs.

“We’re definitely looking at some people who are (in the area) for nefarious purposes,” he said.

Police on site earlier this year. Officers say they have stepped up patrols in the area.

Insp McGuire-White said St Kilda Hostel was one of several locations targeted as part of a recent crackdown on crime at known St Kilda and South Melbourne trouble spots.

He said 64 people had been arrested in the past six weeks as part of Operation Reset, with about a third of those people now on remand.

“People were arrested for everything from breaching intervention orders to burglary, criminal damage, trafficking drugs of dependence, theft and weapons offences,” he said.

Online reviews of the hostel show budget travellers have been less than pleased with their unexpected bunkmates and with the state of the accommodation.

One reviewer wrote: “Police show up there consistently, STAY AWAY you have been warned, worst place ever”.

“It isn’t even a party hostel, it’s full of scummy drug heads shouting and arguing,” another wrote.

“I watched a girl overdose on meth and then a man beat a woman up … I really wouldn’t stay here unless you want to catch something.”

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A third backpacker wrote: “Screaming and shouting continued all night with us being too scared to sleep so we barricaded the door with every piece of furniture we could find”.

One of the TripAdvisor reviews of the St Kilda Hostel.

The council in June argued the alleged drug use and dealing and increased rowdy behaviour at the site were a breach of the permit conditions, which state “the amenity of the area must not be detrimentally affected by the use or development”.

But VCAT member Susan Whitney said it was not the planning tribunal’s role to deal with illegal activity.

“Town planning is not a (solution) for all perceived social ills, nor is planning decision-making a forum for addressing all issues of social or community concern,” Ms Whitney said.

“I am not persuaded that the presence of these other types of land uses is creating amenity impacts that are beyond those caused by the backpackers themselves.”

St Kilda Hostel management has now applied to amend their planning permit to allow them to use 20 beds for crisis accommodation.

A man sleeps on a pile of discarded mattresses outside the Carlisle St backpackers’ lodge last November.

Port Phillip mayor Dick Gross said the council had agreed to adjourn a further VCAT hearing until the application had been considered.

Cr Gross said the site could in the interim continue to be used as emergency accommodation — with strict conditions allowing up to 20 women, who must be referred by specialist organisations and housed in self-contained accommodation separate from backpacker dorms.

“We have done our very best to achieve a balanced outcome for all stakeholders while the application is assessed,” Cr Gross said.

He said the hostel’s bid to amend its permit would be decided by December, with residents to have the chance to provide feedback.

Launch Housing chief executive Bevan Warner would not comment on whether the hostel was a suitable place to house vulnerable people but said more crisis accommodation was “desperately needed” across the state.

“Our entry points in St Kilda, Collingwood and Cheltenham are dealing with a severe lack of crisis accommodation,” Mr Warner said.

“Our staff are often unable to quickly find a bed for people who have nowhere safe to sleep.

“We desperately need more crisis accommodation so we can quickly find somewhere safe for people to stay in response to their immediate crisis.”

Mr Warner said about 90 requests for homelessness assistance went unmet across the state every day.

He said more government investment was needed to “make a real impact”, including more social housing and permanent supportive housing.

The Leader has made repeated attempts to contact management of the hostel.

Online booking websites say St Kilda Hostel is currently “not taking reservations”.