Allan Government unclear on sobering-up centre will be operational in November

The Allan Government has been unable to confirm whether the sobering up facility - a key pillar in its response to axing public dunk laws - will open next month at all.

The sobering-up centre in Collingwood won’t be ready in time.

The Allan government’s delayed sobering up centre in Collingwood is not guaranteed to open in November, despite new public drunkenness laws coming into effect in one week.

As revealed by the Herald Sun, the purpose-built facility on Cambridge St won’t be up and running by Melbourne Cup Day on November 7, when the crime of being drunk in public is abolished.

But deputy Premier Ben Carroll on Monday could not confirm that the sobering up facility - a key pillar of the government’s proposed health-response model - will open next month at all.

“We’re working very hard. I don’t want to give a firm yes but I know we’re working very hard to have Collingwood open as soon as possible,” he said.

It comes as Mr Carroll also revealed that just 85 per cent of Victoria Police members have so far carried out dedicated training for the new laws.

Under the legislation, cops will be forced to leave potentially dangerous intoxicated people where they are if they haven’t committed a crime.

Mr Carroll said police, service provider cohealth and other stakeholders were ready for the changes.

“We’re very confident that November 7 will pass through like any other day,” he said.

“We are very confident with the investments we’ve made.”

Wayne Gatt said it came as no surprise that construction delays had plagued the opening date of the Cambridge St facility. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

It comes as Victoria’s police union slammed the Allan government’s plans to “recklessly” forge ahead with decriminalising public drunkenness on Melbourne Cup Day.

From Cup Day, dangerously drunk people are supposed to be taken home, or cared for at sobering up centres staffed by health professionals.

The delayed 20-bed facility in Collingwood, managed by charity Cohealth, will be the only sobering-up centre in Melbourne.

Police Association of Victoria secretary Wayne Gatt said it came as no surprise that construction delays had plagued the opening date of the Cambridge St facility.

“Sadly, this is characteristic of the overall handling of this reform, which has lurched from ill considered to woefully under prepared,” he said.

“Despite repeated calls for the government to adopt progressive reform with a dose of common sense, it has forged ahead recklessly. Now, it finds itself just days away from turning the tap off on policing services and replacing it with nothing.

“Even if the Collingwood centre was up and running and fully operational, two critical questions still remain. The first is what services will be utilised in every other part of Victoria? The second is what happens to all the drunk people who say they don’t want to go there?”

Mental Health Minister Ingrid Stitt was on Sunday unable to say when the Cambridge St facility would be up and running.

“There has been a number of minor delays associated with the construction and refurbishment of that facility,” she said.

Melbourne Cup 2022 aftermath. Picture: Jake Nowakowski

But Ms Stitt said she was “very confident” the government would be able to hand over the keys to the site to service provider Cohealth by November 7.

It’s understood it could then take a few weeks before being officially opened.

An existing trial site located on Gertrude St, which has just six beds, will remain open until the larger Cambridge St facility opens.

Ms Stitt was unable to say whether staff had been hired to operate the facility.

“There are a number of things that are happening at speed at the moment, including making sure that we have the health professionals in place that will be able to lead that health led response,” she said.

“Cohealth, as the provider, is responsible for ensuring that all of those things are put in place.”

Outreach services will use vans to transport drunk people to the facility, but the details of that response - including whether staff will be uniformed, whether vans will be identifiable and how many people can be transported - remains unclear.

“These are operational matters that will be determined by Cohealth as the operator,” she said.

“If there are public safety issues or if there are health concerns that can’t be managed in a sobering up centre, our emergency services are available to provide that support and that response accordingly.”

Ms Stitt said people concerned about drunk people in public should call Triple-0, who will then make an assessment whether a referral to outreach services is necessary.

The laws will come into affect on Melbourne Cup Day. Picture: Joe Castro

Asked whether it was sensible to have the laws come into effect on Melbourne Cup Day, one of the booziest events of the year, Ms Stitt said: “Look, the timing is the timing. It wouldn’t matter what day the new laws were implemented, it’s important that we don’t lose sight of the very important reasons that we’re pursuing this reform.”

Cohealth declined to comment.

A government spokesman would not say when the facility was expected to open.

It is understood a smaller, six-bed trial facility will remain open until the main as part of contingency plans.

Cohealth has told local residents the Collingwood facility will have the capacity to deal with about 7,300 cases a year.

A similar facility in Adelaide, which has been running for three decades, takes an average of 11,000 clients a year.

Cohealth has told residents drunk people would only be cared for at the Collingwood facility as a last resort.

“Our priority will be to help intoxicated people get home, into the care of friends or family or to another safe place, with the sobering centre the last option,” a fact sheet said.

The charity expects demand for the centre to spike on nights of major events.

The state opposition has repeatedly called for the new laws to be delayed.

Racing crowds in Melbourne are known for their boozy antics. Picture: Tracey Nearmy

Opposition police spokesman Brad Battin said the government had failed to do the work to properly implement its reforms.

Mr Battin said delays to the centre opening “will put people at risk” and called for the laws to be pushed back.

“The Labor government has failed to prepare their health response as they remove police powers to arrest people who are drunk in a public place,” he said.

The Police Association of Victoria has long backed the decriminalisation of public drunkenness, but Mr Gatt said dangerously drunk people were a risk to themselves.

“The happy, compliant or the inoffensive drunk is catered for under this policy change,” he said.

“The belligerent, reckless or uncontrollable drunk is not.”

In May, senior bureaucrats warned a parliamentary committee they would be learning on the job when the facility opened.

The decriminalisation of public drunkenness was recommended by a panel set up by the government after the death of Indigenous woman Tanya Day in police custody in 2017.

The Government has invested more than $76 million to establish the trial sites and implement other changes.