Community safety is a part of all aspects of our lives and is essential to health and wellbeing. It includes: 

• increasing community wellbeing and cohesion, and social and cultural inclusion 
• increasing opportunities for social and physical activity 
• improving public amenities 
• preventing and reducing hardship and insecure housing 
• preventing and reducing incidents of crime and anti-social behaviour. 

Our Council plays a role in:  

• fostering diversity, inclusion and social connection 
• activating public spaces through community grants and funding 
• providing supports for those experiencing hardship and insecure housing 
• maintaining and upgrading public amenities and addressing identified traffic blackspot issues 
• fostering strong partnerships with police and other emergency services, local traders and community groups 
• activating and revitalising our high streets 
• developing regulations to promote and maintain safety 
• maintaining safe public places through CCTV, Local Laws and joint patrols with Police, and partnerships with service providers. 

Council’s Community Safety Plan 2019-2025 outlines how we’re working towards building a safe and connected community where everyone feels safe to live, work and play. It includes actions that help build a safer and more welcoming City. The current plan can be viewed here.

The current Community Safety Plan is due to expire end of 2025 and is due for review.  Community safety is a priority for City of Port Phillip and contributes to positive health, social and economic outcomes for our community. The Community Safety Plan outlines the Council’s commitment to working in partnership with the community and key stakeholders to provide a safer and more vibrant community for all.

The new Plan aims to include community and stakeholder needs and priorities in relation to community safety across the municipality.

Safe and vibrant communities are important to everyone's health and wellbeing. The current Community Safety Plan contains three key priority areas:

• Creating safe spaces – we aim to ensure that our public spaces – including streets, bike paths and corridors, entertainment precincts, foreshore and parks - are safe and well-maintained.

• Building resilience – we aim to foster diversity, inclusion, connection and resilience for all members of the community, including the most vulnerable.

• Healthy living – we aim to support a diverse and vibrant entertainment economy while reducing incidents of harm.

You can read more about Community Safety at the City of Port Phillip here.

Maintaining a safe community is a shared responsibility and community safety is a very broad topic and involves a range of different factors and issues. Some of these areas are the direct responsibility of Council, some are outside of Council’s remit but might have local impacts and some aspects are external and addressed by organisations outside of Council.

City of Port Phillip works collaboratively with federal, state, community service organisations, business owners, and community members to continually improve safety in our municipality.

Victoria Police is responsible for public safety, law enforcement and crime prevention. Their responsibilities include:

• responding to calls for personal and public safety, emergencies, and serious incidents

• work to prevent crime through proactive community safety programs

• investigate offences

• provide visible presence within the community and at major events.

Federal and state governments are responsible for law and order, public health, public housing, public transport and emergency management. There are legislative requirements that outline these responsibilities.

We regularly raise community safety issues with state and federal MPs under our advocacy program. Recently our Mayor was among seven mayors from southeast councils to send an urgent joint letter to the Victorian Government with requests including an increase in frontline police resourcing in identified hotspots and greater visibility and more support for Neighbourhood Watch and local crime prevention initiatives.

We understand that Victoria Police has competing resource demands but were pleased to hear the new Chief Commissioner has publicly stated getting more frontline officers out on the streets and crime prevention are among his top priorities. Local police have indicated support for a potential encampment amendment and to investigate a protocol with Council and service providers to guide what would happen if a no camping area was temporarily designated.  

Council’s local law officers can issue warnings, Notices to Comply and infringement notices to people or organisations who breach the Local Law. The Local Law officers conduct daily patrols at key locations throughout the municipality and can address amenity issues such as clearing obstructed pathways and removing abandoned belongings. If they come across people sleeping rough, they will offer to connect vulnerable people to relevant service providers for further support. They do not have the legal power to move people on or respond to criminal behaviour. That responsibility lies with the Victoria Police who have the relevant training and equipment to manage such issues.

Public places can be designed to discourage criminal activity by ensuring there is more chance for offenders to be seen, challenged, or caught; reducing opportunities for criminal activity; and creating a need for more effort to commit a crime, with limited rewards. This approach is referred to as Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED).  

Spaces that are inviting and appealing, have good lighting, clear lines of sight, and a sense of ownership by the community can help people to feel safe, and prevent crime. All space, even if well planned and well-designed, need to be effectively used and maintained to maximise community safety.

Council works toward this through upgrading public infrastructure such as bike corridors, footpaths, parks, and signage. Council also has a focus on improving and maintaining a high standard of lighting across the city.  Further, council has a program of street activation, festivals and events, and supported community activities.

 At the Community Safety Roundtable discussions in March, Victoria Police reported crime rates have risen 19 per cent in Port Phillip over the last year.  The top five offences (by number) were: stealing from a motor vehicle, other theft, criminal damage, motor vehicle theft and residential non-aggravated burglary.

Council has CCTV cameras across 4 areas in the municipality. CCTV cameras are one tool that is used to prevent crime. While Council is responsible for the infrastructure of the CCTV camera system, Victoria Police are responsible for the day-to-day operations and monitoring of the network. Council does not have access to the images or videos from the cameras and Victoria Police owns all the footage. More information can be found here.

If you are feeling unsafe or there is a crime or safety incident, then the first point of call should be Victoria Police or other emergency services, on Triple Zero (000).

Non-urgent crimes and events can be reported to the Police Assistance Line 131 444. To report non-urgent crime information confidentially you can call Crime Stoppers 1800 333 000.

Council should be called for public space maintenance requests, local health and safety issues, and alcohol restriction non-compliance.

In the City of Port Phillip there are a number of service providers who can assist people with insecure housing. For more details, please refer to Housing and homelessness support services - City of Port Phillip. Council does not offer a homelessness service but provides information and guidance on where people experiencing homelessness can find further support. Council has also contributed funding to a number of social housing projects including Wellington Street Common Ground Project.

Maintaining a safe community is a shared responsibility and community safety is a very broad topic and involves a range of different factors and issues. Some of these areas are the direct responsibility of Council, some are outside of Council’s remit but might have local impacts and some aspects are external and addressed by organisations outside of Council.

We work collaboratively with federal, state, community service organisations, business owners, and community members to continually improve safety in our municipality. Examples of what we do include continuing to provide significant support to housing initiatives, such as the Wellington Street Common Ground project for rough sleepers to open this year; keeping public spaces clean, well-lit and inviting to attract foot traffic; and renewing our public CCTV network.

Current service agreements with local services total more than $1 million across 11 agencies for those who are vulnerable to, or are, experiencing homelessness. We have four full-time staff in Community Building and Inclusion running Port Phillip Zero, administering the sponsored Housing List and implementing the current Community Safety Plan and In Our Back Yard affordable housing strategy.

There are many services that offer support and information to support someone to secure accommodation quickly and work towards longer term housing. Many of the crisis support agencies are available for drop in contact or can be reached by phone to make an appointment, some also are open after hours. For their details, see below:

Salvation Army 1800 627 727

Sacred Heart Mission 03 9537 1166

Launch Housing 1800 825 955.

You can also refer to the list of Support Services in the tab entitled 'Do you need support?' on this project page.