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Security guards in the City of Melbourne. Maribyrnong Council has also hired private security to patrol crime hotspots.

Third Melbourne council to hire private security guards as ‘safety issues at their worst level’

An inner-west council has become the third Melbourne municipality to hire private security to patrol its streets, but critics say the approach is ineffective and highlights a wider policing issue.

  • Sophie Aubrey

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Yarra Mayor Stephen Jolly giving evidence at the hearing on Tuesday.

Public housing tower demolition plan is ‘ethnic cleansing’, says mayor

Yarra Mayor Stephen Jolly has slammed the state’s plan to demolish Melbourne’s public housing towers as a land grab and threatened street resistance in explosive inquiry testimony.

  • Rachael Dexter
Lord Mayor Nick Reece wants a review of voting rules.

‘I’m a big believer in democracy’: Electoral reform on cards for City of Melbourne

Unusual rules giving businesses two votes in council elections would be scrapped, and candidates forced to declare donations before polling day as part of a review sought by Lord Mayor Nick Reece.

  • Rachael Dexter
An artist impression of the precinct around the rail loop’s Cheltenham Station.

Is private office space a public good? SRL density plan suggests so

Housing advocates have warned that social and affordable housing along the rail line could be diminished.

  • Kieran Rooney and Patrick Hatch
Brett Potts with his five year old Beagle cross Vera at Eades dog park in West Melbourne.

Can’t run with the big dogs? Park separates alphas from nervous nellies

The explosion in the number of pets in Melbourne isn’t all good news, as conflict at the dog park and in apartment buildings increases.

  • Cara Waters
Derrimut 24:7 Gym owner Nikolaos Solomos inside the Port Melbourne centre.

Known for its super-gyms, Derrimut 24:7 now faces a $14.6m tax debt

The bodybuilders’ paradise has been rapidly expanding and is preparing a CBD venue, but the company has frustrated neighbours in its path and now fallen foul of the tax office.

  • Sophie Aubrey
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Council Watch president Dean Hurlston and Stonnington Mayor Melina Sehr.

Mayor wins ‘landmark’ order against Council Watch president over harassment

Stonnington Mayor Melina Sehr was granted a personal safety intervention order against the local government activist after a magistrate ruled his online posts and messages went too far.

  • Lachlan Abbott
Robbie Williams in Melbourne in January.

Robbie Williams’ key to the city award prompts rule overhaul at City of Melbourne

An outcry over the British pop star’s award has spurred councillors to vote in stringent conditions and more transparency over who receives City of Melbourne honours.

  • Cara Waters
Techno Park Drive residents (from left) Arnie Hindhaugh, Matt Robinson, Nida and Vincent Schirripa and Lara Week in 2024.

Their block of flats is ‘paradise’. They’ve finally won the right to live there

Residents of Techno Park Drive have been fighting eviction by their local council for more than two years. Now, some have won their fight – and they’re hopeful of more success.

  • Cassandra Morgan and Alexander Darling
Wyndham City Council voted on June 24, 2025 to begin a 12-month trial of private security patrols in Truganina.

Western Melbourne council pays for private security patrols – but only in this suburb

Wyndham City Council voted on Tuesday to adopt a 12-month trial for private security, allocating $372,000. One councillor called it “an absurd use of council resources”.

  • Lachlan Abbott

Original URL: https://www.smh.com.au/topic/melbourne-councils-5za