Right: Melbourne's City Square became a place of protest after a daily newspaper ran a series of articles and news items attacking beggars and "rough sleepers".
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Arguments in favour of fines and/or imprisonment being imposed on those who beg in the streets
1. There are generally other options available to those who beg in the streets
It has been claimed that many of those who beg in the streets are not without other means of support. Many are not homeless and the majority would be able to access government support services which should mean they have no necessity to beg for money in the streets.
In an opinion piece published in The Herald Sun on July 27, 2015, Rita Panahi stated, 'Anyone who has travelled has likely encountered beggars in countries - without our comprehensive safety net - which experience the type of poverty that is thankfully unknown in Australia.
Australia has one of the most generous welfare systems in the world as well as a plethora of programs and welfare agencies devoted to helping the most impoverished get their lives back on track.'
Rita Panahi made the same claim in an opinion piece published in The Herald Sun on May 17, 2016. Panahi stated, 'There is no shortage of government-funded agencies and charitable organisations that can assist people in not only getting the benefits they're entitled to but also help in finding crisis and transitional housing.'
The commentator focused on the services provided by the Salvation Army. She stated, 'The list of services on offer from The Salvation Army include a "Streets to Home" program under which the homeless receive intensive support and long-term housing as well as other Community Outreach Services, including programs aimed at women and young adults.
The charity also provides Mental Health Services programs for homeless men and women struggling with mental health issues as well as community reintegration and drug dependency programs.
The Salvation Army also has a Housing Pathways initiative that provides "case management support to address underlying issues contributing to homelessness" to help men exiting temporary accommodation into permanent housing.'
Referring specifically to a group of homeless men and women who have been protesting in Melbourne's Federation Square, Rita Panahi stated, 'Melbourne City Council and welfare agencies have offered the City Square squatters three months' accommodation and a plethora of services to assist them in overcoming their various issues but the protesters have refused the offers of help, insisting on long-term accommodation.'
It has also been noted that a significant percentage of those currently begging on Melbourne streets are not Australian nationals. They are overseas tourists, generally backpackers, who are using begging as a way of augmenting their travelling money.
In December, 2014, Melbourne Mayor, Robert Doyle, told Business Insider, 'Service providers tell me that international tourists make up around a third of the people begging on Melbourne's streets at the moment. Tourists may not be aware that begging is illegal in Victoria and it's important that we communicate with them and put them in contact with the services they need.'
2. Those who beg in the streets can collect large amounts of money
It has been claimed that many of those who beg in Australia's city streets are merely supplementing welfare payments and that many of them manage to collect substantial sums of money.
A Salvation Army report released in July, 2015, found that nine of those interviewed because they were begging on the streets were professional beggars. Major Brendan Nottle from the Salvation Army stated, 'We had one person indicate to us that he was raising in the vicinity of $300 to $400 a day or an evening and he was doing that on a regular basis.'
Major Nottle said that this particular individual had permanent accommodation and other forms of income besides begging.
Major Nottle further stated, 'He said to the worker that was working with him that he was involved with drugs, so the money was going towards supporting his habit.'
Major Nottle noted that the professional beggars were financially secure enough not to need help with food or shelter. He stated, 'They indicated to us that they were not interested in any way in the services that we were offering.'
In August, 2014, clients of the welfare group Youth Projects told ABC reporters that they are able to collect between $40 and $200 a day.
In August, 2009, The Courier Mail published a news report on a Sydney man who collected some $50,000 a year through begging outside the Myer store in Sydney's CBD. He claimed he had been begging since the late 1990s. He claimed that on a good day he could be given up to $400 and that even on a bad day he typically received between $75 and $100.
He claimed that he enjoyed his life, saying, 'I knock off when I feel like it, or if I've done brilliantly. But on those good days, you might be on such a high that you go for a few more hours and get a bit more money.'
In June, 2013, The Daily Mail reported the situation of a British man who collected S50,000 a year. The Daily Mail described him as, 'Dressed in tatty clothes and accompanied by the obligatory dog-on-a-string, he would take up position on a busy street in one of London's most affluent suburbs.' The news report also revealed that despite claiming to be homeless, the man had been living for the last two years at taxpayers' expense in a S300,000 housing association flat.
3. Those who beg in the street frequently harass pedestrians and other passers-by.
It has also been noted that a substantial number of those who beg in the streets are aggressive and harass pedestrians and others.
In an opinion piece published in The Herald Sun on July 27, 2015, Rita Panahi stated, 'A report by the Salvation Army and the City of Melbourne, released this month, revealed that not only were aggressive beggars using intimidatory tactics, but some were faking terminal illnesses or pregnancy to generate an income.'
The Salvation Army report released in July, 2015, on begging in the Melbourne CBD noted that aggressive beggars working in tandem are verbally abusing and spitting on people in the inner city. The report claims that members of a small group of professional beggars routinely meet on the fringes of the CBD and then break into pairs or groups of three to work in certain streets.
The Salvation Army and the City of Melbourne report stated, 'They tend to target females and international visitors, blocking the path of the person they are targeting until they extract money. If the person does not comply by giving money, they are verbally abused and, in some instances, have been spat on or physically assaulted.'
In May, 2016, The Herald Sun reported that traders on the Melbourne CBD were concerned about the violent behaviour of some beggars. It has been claimed that Elizabeth Street has become a particular problem area.
On May 10, 2016, the Mayor of Melbourne, Robert Doyle, was reported as stating, 'We don't want to lose control of Elizabeth St, which is a major city thoroughfare. The council, the State Government and relevant welfare agencies need to intervene when there is inappropriate behaviour.
Innocent members of the public going about their business shouldn't have to find themselves at risk of being threatened or feel afraid.'
The Minister for Mental Health and Housing, Martin Foley, has said that violent behaviour would not be tolerated.
Mr Foley stated, 'If people are acting on the street violently it is not appropriate. But the cause of the behaviour has to be dealt with.
Victoria police do have powers when it comes to assault and they have to make a decision.'
4. Street beggars impede the operation of local businesses and discourage tourism
In a Perth Now report published on January 17, 2016, it was claimed that shop owners and managers had complained to Sunday Times reporters about the impact that the behaviour of beggars was having on their businesses. They were reported as saying that 'beggars had spat on and verbally abused staff, had frequent turf wars over begging spots, and intimidated staff, shoppers and passers-by. Beggars also urinated and defecated in front of their stores.'
A news report published in The Herald Sun on May 10, 2016, noted, 'The city's homeless problem has become a growing concern for CBD traders and shoppers, who are regularly confronted by people sleeping in doorways or blocking the footpath.'
The news report claims that Melbourne traders fear 'aggressive beggars picking fights with pedestrians on one of Melbourne's busiest streets are jeopardising our reputation as the world's most liveable city.'
The report focused on the arrest of a 47-year-old man accused of aggressive begging and assaulting passers-by in a major city thoroughfare. The man was charged with property damage and being drunk in a public place.
Shop manager, Este Bloem, was interviewed about a homeless man who had camped outside her store. Ms Bloem stated, 'I usually ask people to move but because this person has set up camp I'm reluctant to talk to him because I don't know how he will react.'
I did call the police yesterday who said legally I'm not allowed to ask them to move even though I explained that it's affecting our business.
I've had incidents before with people camped outside Woolies getting into fights. It's not the best image to give tourists of Melbourne.'
Another store operator further claimed, 'They do drive customers away, I just complained to the council this morning and am waiting to hear back.'
There are those who have claimed that street beggars are a particular disincentive for tourism, disturbing foreigner visitors' enjoyment of trips for which they have paid substantial amounts of money.
In an opinion piece published on July 27, 2015, in The Herald Sun, Rita Panahi stated, 'Can you imagine what a tourist who has paid through the nose to visit our fine city would think about being abused on the street?'
5. Allowing street beggars to beg worsens their situation
Those who support legal penalties being imposed on street beggars argue that street begging typically supports a dangerous way of life and that those who beg would be safer if they were not enabled in maintaining hazardous ways of living.
Opponents of sanctioning street begging claim that many beggars are supporting a drug habit. Recent European research suggests that most beggars in first-world welfare-states are neither homeless nor without resources. They are likely to be on the street because of a serious drug or alcohol addiction. Critics of begging claim that the practice only encourages addicts to continue their harmful lifestyles.
In an opinion piece published in the Adelaide Advertiser on August 7, 2014, Craig Cook stated, 'During a crackdown on begging in Birmingham in September last year, police found all of the 40 people it detained failed a drugs test, with over 80 per cent testing positive to Class A substances. Fewer than 40 per cent of those caught begging said they were homeless.'
In an opinion piece published in The Herald Sun on July 27, 2015, Rita Panahi stated, 'Giving to beggars is not only enabling criminality but it's akin to watching "Keeping up with the Kardashians". It only encourages them and prevents them doing something useful with their lives... Giving to a beggar is no different to buying them the drugs or alcohol that is helping to keep them on the street.'
The same point has been made by Thames Reach. Thames Reach is a London-based charity that works with the homeless and the vulnerable. The organisation is opposed to members of the public giving money to beggars as its research has indicat6ed that a majority use this money to support a drug habit. The charity has stated, 'Giving to people who beg is not a benign act without consequences. As an organisation that has worked with people on the street for early thirty years, we have seen many lives damaged by hard drugs and alcohol misuse. We have even lost people through overdoses in situations where a significant portion of the money they spent on drugs came from members of the public giving loose change.'
The same point has been made by John Bird, who instituted The Big Issue, an initiative designed to give gainful employment to the homeless. In November 2014, Bird said of sanctioning begging, 'Such an approach amounts to a collusion with criminality... it is often accompanied ...by other law-breaking, like drug possession, theft, disorderly conduct, and even violence.'