Right: Melbourne's Lord Mayor, Robert Doyle, is unhappy about the "world's most liveable city" having active beggars at its heart.
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Arguments against fines and/or imprisonment being imposed on those who beg in the streets
1. Those who beg are usually suffering from severe social, economic or mental disadvantage
Those who oppose the criminalisation of begging in Australian cities argue that this merely punishes people who are the victims of a complex mesh of social, economic and mental disadvantage.
Dr Sarah Russell, the principal researcher of the Melbourne-based research group, Research Matters, has stated regarding the causes of homelessness and begging, 'Contributing circumstances include poverty, gaps in the social security safety net, high levels of unemployment, a poor supply of affordable housing for people on low incomes, problem gambling, family breakdown and domestic violence.'
Numerous studies have demonstrated that a majority of those who beg on the streets of Australia's cities are homeless and thus often without ready means of accessing either employment or the formal supports that state and federal governments provide. Homelessness has been described as part of a vicious circle that it is difficult for people to escape. Poverty and disadvantage lead to further poverty and disadvantage.
An important sub-group among homeless beggars are the young. Dr Russell states, 'Homelessness among young people is strongly linked to relationship and family breakdown, domestic violence, physical and emotional abuse, sexual assault, unemployment, and substance abuse.'
Mental instability is an additional major contributor to homelessness and begging. Further it is compounded by these circumstances as many who are homeless then succumb to a mental disorder. A 2009 study by social researchers at RMIT in Melbourne found that 15 per cent of people living on the streets had a mental illness before becoming homeless. The study further found that 16 per cent developed a mental illness following homelessness. In total, therefore, over 30% of the homeless are likely to be suffering from a mental disorder.
Critics of imposing fines and imprisonment on those who beg argue that it is unjust to impose such penalties on those who are unlikely to be able to control their behaviour or alter their life circumstances.
In an opinion piece published in The Conversation on January 25, 2012, James Farrell, Lecturer in Law at Deakin University, stated, 'Criminalising begging is tantamount to criminalising poverty. It perpetuates, rather than alleviates, the marginalisation and disadvantage experienced by people who beg. It also violates the fundamental human rights of some of the most vulnerable in our society.'
Farrell further argues, 'The current approach disproportionately affects those whose circumstances have already denied them basic necessities such as food, shelter and health care, and then adds to their disadvantage by denying them even the basic right to communicate and seek to deal with their plight.'
2. Imposing fines on beggars is unjust and counterproductive
It has been claimed that it is unjust and ineffective to fine those who beg. It has been suggested that it is unjust because it effectively criminalises poverty. It has been condemned as ineffective because the majority of those fined will not be able to pay and may well have to beg further in order to attempt to meet these fines.
University of Queensland community law expert, Associate Professor Tamara Walsh, has stated, 'It is really becoming an untenable situation, and it is expensive for the Government. These are offences that really do criminalise poverty. When we see increases, and we have seen massive increase in these types of street offences, we see massive increases in fines and therefore massive increases in debt.'
Queensland Law Society president, Bill Potts, has similarly claimed that criminalising poverty 'is not a solution to what in essence is a whole-of-society problem'.
Potts has further noted, 'What's the point of [the fines], it merely adds to their misery - and effectively ends up in a cycle of poverty, and unfortunately incarceration.'
A Melbourne clinic for the homeless, Youth Projects, has stated that Melbourne's homelessness problem is being made worse by police issuing fines for people begging for money.
The chair of Youth Projects, Melanie Raymond, has stated, 'The fact that it's illegal doesn't play any part in real life on the streets for homeless people.
They're trying to get a foothold into employment and having a mountain of fines on their back isn't helping. It's preventing them from moving on.'
Sydney Criminal Lawyers, who oppose the fining of beggars, state on their Internet site, 'If a homeless person is caught begging in South Australia, they'll face an on-the-spot fine of $250, regardless of circumstances. In Melbourne, some advocacy services have reported homeless clients racking up fines as large as $50,000 for begging.'
A Melbourne man who has begged during his twenty years of intermittent homelessness has commented on the police practice of confiscating the money he had collected and on the fines he received. He has stated, 'Police made me put it [the money collected] in - it was Christmas Eve and I had about $40 and they made me put it all in the church poor box.
Other times you'd have to go to court for begging and get a $100 fine, then I'd have to go begging to pay that back.'
In a comment published in The Guardian on June 3, 2015, criticising similar measures imposing fines on street beggars in London, Jon Sparkes stated, 'Picture the scene: you've lost your job and your home, your life has fallen apart and you're sleeping on the streets. You're desperate. But instead of getting the support you need to get back on your feet, you're treated like a criminal and punished with a fine you cannot afford to pay.'
3. Those who beg need assistance rather than punishment
It has been claimed that the solution to discouraging begging is to improve access to assistance rather than to punish beggars.
It has been noted, for example, that the incidence of both begging and prosecution for begging has increased in Adelaide. Commentators have noted that this is a consequence of increasing disadvantage and reduced funding to assist those suffering disadvantage.
A March 27, 2016, report published in The Adelaide Advertiser claimed that official figures reveal that begging offences in South Australia have reached a five-year high at the same time as welfare agencies report more people struggling to access welfare services.
Police in South Australia made 72 arrests or reports during the 2015/15 financial year for the offence of begging alms - up from 52 in 2013/14. Offenders face a maximum $250 fine.
Anglicare South Australia chief executive, Reverend Peter Sandeman, has stated, 'It (begging) certainly has been building up ... Demand for our food and meals and emergency assistance just keeps increasing. It seems to keep on going up, in part, due to the economic conditions; we know it's going to get worse with Holden closing.'
A number of welfare agencies have claimed that they are not able to address the needs of all those coming to them for assistance.
Last financial year Anglicare, which operates five sites in Adelaide, assisted 2300 new 'clients', in these South Australian centres. However, as many as 100 people a week were turned away because services could not meet demand.
Reverend Sandeman, has stated, 'Unfortunately, our turnaway data is getting higher which means people have to resort to things such as begging.'
Critics have claimed that the increase in homelessness and begging may be the result of reduced federal funding to assist the disadvantaged.
Baptist Care South Australia Central's senior manager, Ian Townsend, has suggested that the increase in people begging and sleeping rough may be linked to a $500,000 federal funding cut last year to South Australian agencies providing emergency relief services such as money for bills, rent, medicines and public transport costs.
Ian Townsend has stated, 'There's more pressure on services, and there's less money that's been allocated to emergency relief. We're seeing the flow-on effect from this (funding cut) - there are fewer resources to help those who are on the streets and they're in a situation where they feel they have to do that (beg).'
One homeless man, whom the Adelaide Advertiser interviewed, indicated the cycle of disadvantage which afflicts those who are not given adequate assistance. He stated, 'The only problem with services here is accommodation because services can't find you a place to live...I just need to find a place - without a place you've got no home base and you can't find a job if you're on the street.'
4. Those who beg do not usually pose a threat to pedestrians
Supporters of the right to beg without legal penalty claim that the majority of beggars are passive and not aggressive or menacing.
A report by the Salvation Army and the City of Melbourne, released in July, 2015, has been used by those who claim that beggars are potentially violent. Critics of this use of the report note that of the 135 beggars who were interviewed only nine were found to be aggressive.
The Salvation Army has expressed concern that the small number of menacing beggars may discourage people from helping the many who simply need assistance.
Major Brendan Nottle from the Salvation Army has stated, 'They [aggressive beggars] frighten people and people can assume all beggars are like that, but the reality is they're not all like that at all, the vast majority deserve our pity not our fear.'
Nottle has referred to 'That small, hard-core minority [who] are actually breaking the law.'
In an opinion piece focusing on the small number of aggressive beggars on Melbourne's streets, Herald Sun commentator Rita Panahi nonetheless noted, '[T]he overwhelming majority of ...beggars are considered passive...'
The same point was made in The Age in a comment on the Salvation Army and City of Melbourne report. The Age article stated, 'They discovered the majority of beggars were homeless and considered no threat to the public.'
A sixty-two year old man interviewed by The Herald Sun, who has been sleeping rough for twenty years, claimed, 'Most people are pretty placid and even with their [drug] usage they just want to find a place to live.'
Melbourne's mayor, Robert Doyle, has similarly conceded that the number of potentially violent beggars is not large. Mr Doyle has stated, 'There is a small group that can be aggressive and dangerous and they are a matter for police.'
Doyle has further stated, '[N]o one benefits from locking up people who are genuinely homeless. We have an obligation as a society to help them so they can get on the way to a better life, a life off the streets. But the police should, and do, deal with professional, aggressive beggars.'
Critics of the fining and imprisonment of beggars argue that the small number of beggars who are aggressive or violent can be dealt with under assault laws. Australian states do not need laws that target beggars simply for begging as the vast majority do not pose a threat.
5. Charity collectors are not fined or otherwise penalised
It has been claimed that beggars are treated inequitably as charity collectors can make insistent demands legally.
Herald Sun commentator Rita Panahi, who is generally opposed to street beggars, has also noted the inappropriate conduct of many charity collectors.
In an opinion piece published on July 27, 2015, Panahi stated, 'Something else that should be made illegal is the predatory tactics of some charity workers which is seriously testing the goodwill of many Australians.'
Panahi went on to describe the offensive behaviour of some collectors. She stated, 'Some of those paid collectors refuse a one-off donation insisting that we provide bank or credit details to become a monthly donor.
Even the most charitable among us will rethink the spirit of giving after encountering an aggressive young worker collecting for charity in city streets, supermarkets, outside train stations or anywhere else that's busy with foot traffic.'
On February 4, 2014, Mumbrella published a comment by Tim Burrowes in which he also noted the aggressive behaviour of many of those who collect for registered charities.
Burrowes wrote, 'The other day I watched an overly aggressive Save The Children ambassador almost knock a cup of coffee from a man's hand on Sydney's George Street.
A couple of days after that, I felt thoroughly patronised by an Amnesty International representative during an awkward social exchange in Martin Place.
And last Thursday, a Cancer Council worker rudely interrupted my phone conversation as I walked up Queen Street in Brisbane.'
Defenders of street beggars argue that it is unjust to allow charity collectors legally to behave in this manner, while criminalising the behaviour of those who beg to support themselves. Similar complaints have been made about buskers, pamphlet distributers and street hawkers and spruikers. All of these people are able to get permits to allow them to operate legally, while beggars cannot.