Ms BADGER (Lyons) – Honourable Speaker, I move –
That the bill be now read the second time.
The offence of begging has rightfully been decriminalised in the Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales and it is beyond time for Tasmania to follow suit. Removing the offence is the first step in decriminalising poverty. Begging is an antiquated offence and it has no place in a contemporary, informed and just society. Historically, it has been suggested that begging is associated with laziness and moral shortcomings which would inevitably lead to criminal behaviour. The introduction of begging crimes has traditionally been justified as a mechanism to prevent more serious crime.
This legacy perception of begging is no longer a prevalent view in our society that begging leads to other criminal behaviours. To the contrary, begging is a last resort, a cry for help from society’s most vulnerable and disadvantaged. It has been suggested that begging is a public nuisance. That is an unfortunate, selfish and elitist attitude. It holds no empathy for those so destitute that they feel they have no other choice but to ask strangers for money.
The Police Offences Act (Begging Repeal) Bill 2024 will amend the Police Offences Act 1935 to ensure that begging is no longer an offence in Tasmania. The bill is straightforward and simply removes subsections (1) and (1AA) in section 8 of the Police Offences Act 1935. Sections (1) and (1AA) set out the specifications of the offence and the penalty respectively. It is worth noting that the provision this offence falls under is titled ‘drunkenness, indecency and other public annoyances’. In the past couple of decades, offences relating to public drunkenness, prostitution and games of hazard have already been struck from the act.
Disadvantaged people are decidedly more vulnerable to being unduly caught up in the legal system, as they are more prone to profiling, more likely to be in situations that passively expose them to criminal activities, and are less equipped to provide a legal defence. Incarceration for minor offences increases the risk of reoffending in a more serious manner. The inclusion of this offence is a statutory relic of an unjust society. There is no public safety, moral or practical justification for begging to remain an offence.
As the law currently stands, someone who is found guilty of begging faces a fine of up to $975 or six months in prison. The lack of logic there is quite breathtaking. If a person is so destitute that they are asking strangers for money, how are they going to find $975? Are we not then saying to that person, ‘If you cannot find the money you can spend some time at Risdon’? That is no response to poverty.
Disadvantaged people are decidedly more vulnerable to being unduly caught up in the legal system. I apologise, I put that paragraph in there twice because it was so good. There is a strong correlation between the practice of begging and several complex and interrelated individual factors. People who commit the crime of begging do so out of desperation and because their basic needs are not being met. Failure of government services contribute to incidents of begging, including inadequate funding of welfare services, health care, housing and social security. Fraudulent or aggressive begging is rare and can be more appropriately prosecuted under other criminal offences, and individual charges are often poorly equipped to defend themselves. That is the evidence of legal experts and we must heed this, take it seriously and deal with this archaic law.
In 2017, the Homeless Persons’ Legal Clinic, LawRight, published a paper on the crime of begging in Australia, which found that criminalisation of begging has disproportionately impacted on the most vulnerable members of our society. Of the points put forward by LawRight, failure of government services to provide for the financially and socially disadvantaged should resonate strongly in the current climate. We have a housing crisis born out of underinvestment in housing and a lack of short‑stay regulations which has been brought forward by this government.
We can all agree that safe, secure housing for all is a foundation of a well‑functioning contemporary society. Stable housing is critical for mental wellbeing, acquiring or maintaining work and earning a living wage, but currently there are 4710 applicants on the Housing Register and the rolling average to house priority applicants has now reached 85 weeks. These numbers were 4598 applicants and 80 weeks retrospectively when the Greens last delivered a second reading speech on this matter in November last year. Right now, we have a situation where the government has categorically failed to ensure that enough residential affordable housing, both public and private, exists to house our people.
I want to read into Hansard some of the contents of a letter of support for this bill, but before I do, honourable Deputy Speaker, I want to thank two of the stakeholders who have been champions for this for some time, Ben Bartl and Greg Barns.
The letter of support, which has been signed by Anglicare, St Vincent de Paul, the Australian Lawyers Alliance, Shelter Tasmania, Community Legal Centres, the Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre, Prisoners Legal Service and TasCOSS, says:
Criminalising begging is criminalising poverty. By abolishing the criminalisation of begging, we pave the way for a more compassionate societal approach, safeguarding the rights of individuals to seek assistance without fear of legal repercussion.
The Police Offences Amendment (Begging Repeal) Bill 2024 to be debated next week will provide members of the House of Assembly with an opportunity to recognise that people begging need help and that poverty cannot be addressed through a criminal justice response.
Repealing the offence of begging will ensure that the Tasmanian parliament meets a commitment it first made in 2009, as well as bring Tasmania into line with Western Australia, New South Wales and the Australian Capital Territory where begging is not an offence.
It is also worth noting that other Australian jurisdictions are moving in this direction, with a 2022 parliamentary review of public intoxication, begging and public urination offences in Queensland recommending that all offences be decriminalised, subject to the appropriate community‑based health and social welfare responses being in place, whilst in Victoria a 2022 review of the criminal justice system recommended a review of all offences linked to homelessness, including begging. Victoria has also recently abolished the offence of public intoxication in recognition of the disproportionate impact this offence has had on Aboriginal people and following the recommendations from the coronial inquest into the death of Ms Tanya Day.
In summary, with the majority of Australian jurisdictions having already passed laws that begging should not be an offence or having recommended decriminalisation, there is a clear national trend towards embracing policies that confront socioeconomic challenges with evidence‑based solutions and compassion. We urge you to support the bill and repeal the offence of begging. [TBC]
Deputy Speaker, the letter also highlights research conducted by Community Legal Centres that highlights that most of the participants, 73 per cent, were homeless and 77 per cent had a diagnosed disability. Of those diagnosed with a disability, 44 per cent had schizophrenia and another 44 per cent had an intellectual disability. Aboriginal Tasmanians were also disproportionately represented. It was noted that this conforms with findings from other research throughout Australia.
Today, as we did in 2018 and 2023, the Greens asked the parliament to send a message that we do not victim blame, we do not consider begging an immoral or criminal activity, and we care about people in difficult circumstances. Today, we ask that a message be sent that we tackle poverty instead of attacking the impoverished.
