Published on Sunday, 19 October 2025

Council should invest in community services not security guards

The City of Melbourne should abandon its $2 million security guards program and redirect that money towards community services to help people struggling with rising costs of living and the housing affordability crisis.

Ahead of a crucial council meeting this week, Inner Melbourne Community Legal is calling on councillors not to approve more than $4 million of funding for security guards and CCTV cameras which will do nothing to address growing poverty and homelessness in the CBD and inner city.

At the same time as the council is considering the $4 million expenditure, it is cutting funding to programs that seek to intervene to reduce poverty and vulnerability.

IMCL Chief Executive Officer Nadia Morales said for a fraction of the cost of these two measures, the council could invest in programs that go a long way to making safe the most at-risk people in the community, including people escaping family violence, mental health issues, alcohol or drug dependency and people at risk of homelessness.

“If this ‘public safety’ program is approved, it will mean the City of Melbourne is taking money away from community services to spend $4 million on private security guards and CCTV cameras in the CBD to effectively criminalise poverty,” Ms Morales said.

“This is a PR exercise that will do nothing to address the underlying issues of poverty and homelessness in the city centre. All it will do is further marginalise people who are already experiencing disadvantage.

“It defies common sense that the council would even contemplate spending money on this publicity stunt at a time when 48% of its residents indicated they have experienced food insecurity, 15% are living below the poverty line, and 26% have had to access emergency food relief services.

“Rather than spending $2 million on a few private security guards in the CBD that will only serve to criminalise poverty, the City of Melbourne should be using that money to invest in community services that help those who are struggling with rising cost of living and housing affordability crisis.”

Instead of investing in critical services, the City of Melbourne has cut its community grants program.

In a submission to the draft City of Melbourne plan for 2025-29, IMCL has called for the council to reinstate funding of $80,000 a year to a maternal child health justice partnership that has been discontinued.

Pilot funding for the partnership ended in June and despite its success, has not been renewed.

“The City of Melbourne showed real leadership in piloting our maternal child health justice partnership — it should continue that leadership by sustaining funding for a program that has proven its success and is valued by local residents and health care workers alike,” Ms Morales said.

“This program provided free and accessible legal support to disadvantaged and culturally and linguistically diverse families in the City of Melbourne, including those at risk of family violence.

“We know that family violence is a major cause of homelessness for women and children, and this is exactly the type of program the council should be funding instead of the Lord Mayor’s misguided project of private security guards.”

IMCL also shares the concerns of other organisations about the rhetoric of some councillors who want to restrict the right of people to protest peacefully in the city centre, including through the use of protest permits.

“Restricting the democratic right to protest would be a complete over-reach by the City of Melbourne,” she said.

“Protest permits have been rejected by the Chief Commissioner of Police as being ineffective and unnecessary.

“The City of Melbourne needs to demonstrate its commitment to human rights by upholding the right to peaceful protest.”