Between Monday 2 March and Sunday 29 March 2026, we invited you to share your views on a draft amendment to the Community Amenity Local Law. The proposed amendment outlines how Council responds to camps on Council land.

More than 700 people shared their perspectives on the proposed change. Thank you to everyone who took the time to provide feedback.

We have brought your feedback together into a report that highlights the key themes and sentiments shared by the community.

What happened next?

The engagement results were presented alongside the proposed amendment at the Council Meeting on Wednesday 6 May 2026 to help inform Council’s decision on whether the amendment should be adopted. Prior to its presentation to Council, the Local Law amendment was certified by an independent Australian solicitor in line with the requirements of the Local Government Act 2020.

At the meeting on Wednesday 6 May, Council resolved to proceed with the amendment to the Local Law. You can read the agenda and minutes for this meeting using this link.

With its adoption, the amendment will be published in the Government Gazette and on our website, followed by a final public notice advising when the amendment will come into operation. The amendment is scheduled to come into operation on Monday 1 June 2026.

To read more about this project and its implementation, visit the City of Port Phillip website using the link below.

We’re proposing a change to the Community Amenity Local Law. This change would give us clearer instructions on how to respond to camps on Council land when they affect the community’s safety, wellbeing, or enjoyment of the area.

The amendment and its associated procedure guide lay out a pathway of actions for our staff to take to help support the people living within these encampments while maintaining public amenity. These actions include connecting people with existing supports, offering assistance on site and exploring non‑punitive options wherever possible.

If required, the amendment would also allow authorised Council staff members to remove equipment from these encampments as a last resort after all other options have been tried.

In March 2026, we invited community members to read the draft amendment and share your views. Your feedback will help inform whether we go ahead with the proposed changes.

Our tools to upload your feedback or complete a survey closed at 11.59pm on Sunday 29 March 2026.

Before completing your feedback, you needed to register using this link or login using your existing profile. This will help us make sure that community members are only providing feedback to this consultation once.

If you had questions, you could also register to attend an online information session on the amendment using the link below: