Victorian Premier Jacinta Allan has defended decriminalising public drunkenness on Melbourne Cup day, despite concerns from the state’s police officers on Oct. 31.
From Nov. 7, being intoxicated in public will no longer be a crime, and police won’t have any powers to arrest people. Instead, it will be approached as a health issue, with leading community health organisation Co-health delivering street-based outreach teams and mobile vans across metro Melbourne, after long-planned decriminalisation reforms.
“Because being intoxicated in public shouldn’t be a crime. And from next week, it won’t be,” she said.
She added that criminalising public drunkenness “led to too many Indigenous Victorians ending up in a jail cell.”
Concerned Opposition
In response, Victoria Police issued a statement assuring police want to “instinctively assist” the community; however, under new laws, there will be times when members will leave drunk people where they are, particularly when they are not deemed a safety risk.
Mr. Gatt said, “That’s going to challenge them as police officers and as people who genuinely come to work because they believe in what they’re doing.”
The opposition also introduced a bill to parliament to delay the implementation until late November when a new 20-bed sobering-up facility in Collingwood is complete.
Opposition Leader John Pessutto said despite supporting the change at its heart, the proposed health response, in terms of its implementation, needed more time to be ready for the law change.
Police Are Ready, Deputy Says
Meanwhile, Victoria Deputy Premier Ben Carroll told Sky News Australia that the government was “very confident” in its investments, adding police were ready and “Nov. 7 will pass through like any other day.”Ms. Allan confirmed her confidence, adding that another facility in Collingwood, where a 12-month trial has been underway, will be available until the new sobering-up centre is complete. However, the “vast majority” of intoxicated people in public will not need to visit it.
“If there is a small number who need additional support, there is a facility that already exists. We'll be adding to that facility by the end of November. And from next week, there will be the additional Aboriginal-run health providers providing support to Indigenous Victorians,” she said.
Community Cross-Section Would Benefit
CoHealth successfully operated a sobering service trial in the City of Yarra. It will use the same care model to expand services to metropolitan Melbourne after a “real cross-section” of the community needs it.Cohealth Deputy Chief Executive Christopher Turner said, “A health-based response to public intoxication keeps people safe, avoids unnecessary contact with police, and creates a safer and more supportive environment for vulnerable members of our community.”
“From disorientated young people who’ve lost their mates late at night to people who’ve had one too many after-work drinks and people who are homeless and alcohol-affected, our service will be for everyone,” he said.
Cohealth concluded, as well as responding to immediate health and safety needs, its sobering service will connect people to alcohol and other drug treatment and specialist services should they need them.
Road to Reform
Cohealth’s safety assurance comes after the Victorian government committed to decriminalising public drunkenness at the start of an inquest into the 2017 death of Yorta Yorta woman Tanya Day.Ms. Day was arrested for being publicly drunk. However, she died after hitting her head in a concrete cell at Castlemaine Police Station.
Subsequently, a coroner found her death was preventable.
Then, the Victorian Labor government committed to a decriminalised approach to public drunkenness in 2019.
In December 2022, the government confirmed it would replace the public drunkenness offence with a health-led model, with the 2023-24 state budget including $88.3 million over three years for the statewide rollout of the health-based response.
