Public intoxication will no longer be a criminal offense in Victoria, effective from Melbourne Cup Day.
The state government committed four years ago to moving from a criminal justice response to the issue to a public health approach, although significant progress was set aside by the Covid pandemic.
Below, Ny Breaking Australia takes a look at the November 7 changes and what you need to know.
What are the new rules?
From next Tuesday, public intoxication will no longer be illegal in Victoria.
Police will not be able to arrest and detain people for being drunk in public and place them in cells while they are sober.
However, they still have the power to arrest people for other crimes that may be related, such as nuisance, assault, vandalism or public safety.
If the police encounter someone in a public environment who is clearly intoxicated and needs help, they can refer them to a ‘sobering center’, which is not a police cell, and no criminal offense will be recorded.
The law in Victoria will be changed on Melbourne Cup Day to decriminalize drinking in public (Photo: A model celebrates the opening of the 2023 Spring Racing Carnival)
Why Melbourne Cup Day?
Rather than the Victorian government relaxing the rules for the state’s largest party, the date has more to do with red tape.
The laws were due to be changed on November 7 last year, specifically the Monday after Melbourne Cup weekend, but were pushed back a year due to Covid-related delays.
What is a ‘sobering center’?
The government intended for a 20-bed facility in Collingwood to join the health service on November 7, but construction work will not be completed until the end of November.
The facility is a repurposed retirement home in a residential neighborhood near a school, which has sparked opposition from residents in the area.
Sharrie Harrol, mother of two teenagers living on the streets, told The Age there was no consultation with residents and she was concerned for her children.
Neighbor Francesca Rush said the facility would be better connected to a hospital than in her “quiet community.”
The laws were supposed to be changed years ago, but have been postponed due to Covid disruptions
Private service provider Cohealth has been contracted by the government to run the center as part of a three-pronged approach that also includes street teams and transport services to take people home.
Each team will have a nurse, a drug and alcohol specialist and a vehicle that will feature signage, official badges and uniforms.
“The vast majority of people who are on the road just need a little support to get home, and that will happen in the vast majority of cases,” Prime Minister Jacinta Allen said.
“Whether it’s through the police or through ambulance services, that support will be there.”
What is the reason for the change in law?
The Victorian Government says a police response to public intoxication is ‘inappropriate and inconsistent with current community standards’.
There is particular concern that the laws have a disproportionate impact on the Indigenous community.
The racing season in Melbourne has kicked off with the ‘race that stops the nation’ on November 7
The Victorian Government has committed to decriminalizing public intoxication as it launches an investigation into the 2017 death of Yorta Yorta woman Tanya Day.
She was arrested on a train for being drunk in a public place and died after hitting her head in a concrete cell at Castlemaine police station.
A coroner found she was not adequately monitored and her death was preventable.
“Treating public intoxication for what it is – a public health problem that requires a public health response – ensures we keep the community safe and reduces the risk of people dying in police custody,” Ms Day’s family said in a statement.
“Other states and territories should follow Victoria’s lead… As our mother’s case and all others like it show, police cells are dangerous places for drunk people.”
Cohealth will continue to operate a six-bed pilot site on Gertrude Street in Collingwood and mobile vans until the expanded site opens.
“We are not going to continue where we have laws in this state that result in Indigenous Victorians disproportionately ending up in prisons and very seriously significant consequences coming from that,” the Premier said.
The Victorian Opposition previously introduced legislation in the House of Commons to delay the decriminalization of public intoxication, but it was blocked by Labor.