More than 80 drunks assisted on the street and five people supported at sobering up centres on first night under new reforms

New public drunkenness laws came into effect on Melbourne Cup Day – and figures have revealed how many Victorians were supported at sobering up centres.

Victoria has marked its first night without public intoxication laws, with more than 80 drunks assisted on the street.

Public intoxication is now legal in Victoria, meaning police cannot arrest public drunks unless they commit a criminal offence.

As Melbourne Cup celebrations raged on into the afternoon, sobering-up service provider Cohealth, along with other outreach services, engaged with dozens of drunks across the state.

Of those, five people were supported at sobering up centres.

As revealed by the Herald Sun, the city’s only permanent sobering-up centre won’t be ready to open its doors until later this month.

Racegoers partying at the Melbourne Cup at Flemington Racecourse.

But a trial site on Gertrude St, Fitzroy, is continuing to operate, as well as an Indigenous facility in St Kilda.

Four Cohealth vans, with teams of two, were spread across the city overnight, with the most in-demand areas located in the Melbourne CBD and the Yarra LGA which includes the suburbs of Fitzroy and Richmond.

According to the government, the majority of people engaged by outreach services were assisted in getting home or to a safe place.

The centralised phone service was used just twice overnight, including by a police member and a tram driver who were individually reporting concern for an intoxicated person in the Melbourne CBD.

The two people, who were reported to Cohealth at 12am and 1.20am respectively, were assisted by outreach services.

While Victoria Police no longer have the power to deal with public drunks, a spokesperson warned that if a drunk person is to commit a criminal offence “they will be dealt with swiftly by police”.

Cohealth is expected to roll out most or all 10 vans across the state on weekends throughout summer.