Sleeping on CBD streets may soon be banned with Melbourne City Council preparing to introduce a new law to clamp down on rough sleeping.
Lord mayor Robert Doyle has confirmed he is willing to introduce a new bylaw giving police stronger powers to prevent people bedding down on the streets.
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Police crackdown on city homeless camps
Police move into a homeless camp outside Flinders Street station as more and more people flock to the busy intersection ahead of the Australian Open.
"I am happy to put this proposal before councillors at our first meeting if it is Victoria Police's recommendation and they guarantee that they will enforce it," he said.
Cr Doyle said police already had powers to arrest people for obstruction, drug use and begging.
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"I would like to see them make full use of those powers as well," he said.
"I welcome any move by police to bring an end to what has become a blight on our city and the City of Melbourne continues to work with them to do that."
The looming crackdown comes after mounting concerns about homeless people sleeping rough outside Flinders Street Station.
Cr Doyle told 3AW that large encampments such as that seen this week outside Flinders Street Station in the CBD were "just beyond the pale".
But he said the council was currently "hamstrung" because while it could remove camping equipment other items including mattresses were a "grey area".
Cr Doyle flagged drafting a law that states people "can't simply doss down on the streets".
"If we can do that with clarity and the police are prepared to stand behind us then maybe that's the lever we're going to have to use," he told 3AW.
It remains unclear exactly how the proposed new measures would work. But Cr Doyle said he would talk to police today about the looming bylaw.
On Thursday Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said police were powerless to move on rough sleepers and called for bylaws banning camping in the CBD.
However, his comments were at odds with Victoria Police Superintendent David Clayton who earlier this week rejected suggestions that police should use move-on powers to disperse homeless camps.
Mr Ashton also claimed people sleeping rough in the CBD were pretending to be homeless so they could "shake down" tourists for money.
Council to Homeless Persons chief executive Jenny Smith said moving rough sleepers on would not solve the entrenched problem of homelessness.
She said it would be disappointing if the council introduced the proposed bylaw.
"It's blaming the victim," she said.
"It's just moving them somewhere else [where] we can't see them and that shouldn't make us feel better."
She said Melbourne's affordable housing crisis had led to the increase in homelessness and rough sleeping.
Cr Doyle and the Salvation Army have insisted there are sufficient crisis beds to accommodate people sleeping rough on the CBD.
But Ms Smith said the system lacked permanent housing as an exit point from crisis accommodation.
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