Darwin Council under pressure from Territory government MLAs to issue fines for homelessness

Homelessness advocates say vulnerable Territorians are being fined more than $160 ‘for the heinous crime of sleeping in the dirt’, care of the nearest post office.

Fannie Bay MLA Brent Potter says homeless people should be dealt with in the same way as abandoned cars and nuisance dogs. Picture: Monique Van Der Heyden

The City of Darwin says it only issues fines to rough sleepers “as a last resort” despite “significant pressure” from Labor MLAs and anecdotal reports of a surge in infringements.

Sunset Soup Kitchen founder Leah Potter said there had previously been an “unwritten moratorium” on issuing fines to rough sleepers with nowhere else to go.

But Ms Potter said the council had recently started issuing $162 fines to homeless people who were otherwise minding their own business, care of the nearest post office.

“They’re waking them up at 6 o’clock in the morning to fine them, so they’re sleeping, they’re not fighting, they’re not drinking, they’re not causing any problem,” she said.

“They’re woken up and they’re fined for the heinous crime of sleeping in the dirt.”

Ms Potter said she knew of three homeless women, including one with a significant disability, who had received the fines and simply threw them away as they had nowhere else to go anyway.

“The ones that are getting fines are the ones that can’t run away, they’re not the ones that are out there stealing cars and stuff, they’re just sleeping,” she said.

Leah Potter says fining homeless people for sleeping rough is ‘another pathway to incarceration for a victimless crime’. Picture: Che Chorley

Ms Potter said the issue had kicked off when Fannie Bay MLA Brent Potter addressed a recent council forum, calling on rangers to crack down on illegal camping.

But Mr Potter said he did not believe in fines and only wanted the council to “enforce their bylaws” by issuing “the same notice that you do for unattended items or for dangerous dogs”.

“(Fines) don’t change behaviour, they don’t change any outcomes, people can’t pay them and it’s nothing more than revenue raising,” he said.

“What I have said to them though is when camping in public places is significant, like the toilets at East Point for example, for 12 months or longer without any intervention or engagement, that they have to enforce their bylaws.”

In a statement, a spokesman for the City of Darwin said the council had been “in regular contact” with Mr Potter about his concerns, but its illegal camping policy had not changed.

“We have also been subject to significant pressure from some current NT government MLAs to increase the number of infringements issued to vulnerable people who are sleeping rough in public places,” he said.

“City of Darwin issues infringement notices as a last resort.

“We do not consider the fining of vulnerable people the solution to complex issues such as homelessness.”