What to do if you see someone experiencing homelessness

Let us know

You can contact us to let us know about a person who is experiencing homelessness or rough sleeping in Boroondara by calling (03) 9278 4326 or emailing [email protected].

We will ask you for information about the person's location, appearance (including any belongings they may have) and behaviour. 

Why we collect information

We collect personal and health information to:

• connect people experiencing homelessness with local services that can support their needs
• make sure that people who need support are referred to appropriate service providers
• monitor the extent of homelessness in Boroondara.

If‌ the person is under 18 years old, we will share the personal and health information to our Child Safety Officer and Boroondara Youth Services to decide on appropriate action. 

As we are not a service provider, we may need to share the personal and health information collected to third parties, such as:

• The Salvation Army
• local homelessness assistance and support service providers 
• Victoria Police (for example, to support providers to perform their duties, to conduct welfare checks or to provide emergency assistance)
• Ambulance Victoria (for example, to provide emergency assistance).

We won't share personal and health information to any other external party without the person's consent, unless permitted or required by law.

If we don’t collect this personal information, we might not be able to contact the person or refer them to appropriate homelessness assistance or support service providers.

You can make requests to access or change your personal and health information to our Freedom of Information Officer. For more information, refer to our Privacy and Data Protection Policy below.

Begging

People beg for many reasons, including homelessness, and we understand this can be confronting. 

If you need help with food and essentials, visit our Help with food and essentials page. If you want to support people who are begging in Boroondara, we recommend donating to a local organisation.

Begging is illegal under The Summary Offences Act 1966 and enforcement of this activity is the responsibility of Victoria Police. If a person who is begging is acting aggressively, intimidatingly, violently or placing people at risk, you can report the situation by calling 000.