Wednesday, 29 May 2024

Sobering facilities

Georgie CROZIER (Southern Metropolitan) (17:47): (926) My adjournment matter this evening is for the Minister for Mental Health, so I am glad she is in the house today. Earlier today in question time I was asking the minister when she will release the report on the sobering-up trial. The report was due to be released last August, and the sobering-up centres in both Collingwood and St Kilda have caused significant issues for those residents within those local communities. The minister refused to answer that very important question, and despite referencing the report in question time she will not release it to the Victorian community.

In her answer the minister went on a frolic about what I was doing last Friday, including what she described as taking videos of the centre in St Kilda – which I was not. It is true I was in my electorate meeting a number of constituents and stakeholders about antisocial behaviour and community safety in general. One of those constituents that I have been speaking with regularly lives opposite the St Kilda sobering-up centre in Mitchell Street. It is true that I phoned my constituent to say that I had come down to see the centre and to meet with her if she was at home. It is also true that I took a photo of the centre because above the door there is a sign that says, ‘Galiamble house rules: any person under the influence of alcohol will not be permitted entry’. It is rather odd to have such a sign at the entrance of dedicated sobering-up centre, which the minister herself was visiting on Friday. A number of residents have written to the minister about their concerns but disappointingly have never received any response.

In an email on 3 April to the minister my constituent pointed out the distress she and her family have to endure. She went on to speak about how she had to ring 000 following an incident that happened to her. She spoke about the issue of the increase in crime since that centre has opened. She talked about the employees and what they are doing with parking. She talked about the experience of walk-up drunk people arriving on foot and sleeping on the doorstep when no-one has been at the facility, even though it is supposed to be open 24 hours a day and we were informed there were to be no walk-ups at all. She went on to speak about the parking issue in the street, and concerningly she said in this email to the minister:

The employee then started screaming at me “You don’t own this street, what do you do lady? Get a life lady! You add nothing to this community, we are doing good work, what do you do? Nothing, you do nothing!”

He proceeded to tell me “they were here first?”. I have no idea what that means. He continued to scream at me “you have no life”

She went on very emotionally and said it was:

Extremely aggressive, confrontational – I was on my own …

I then got in the car and broke down, crying hysterically as I was so frightened and I called 000.

She said a number of other things about the enduring stress that she and her family are experiencing.

It is extremely disappointing that the minister refuses to acknowledge the concerns of residents or to even engage with them. The action I seek is for the minister to respond to my constituent’s emails and in particular to address the very important issue that she raises about the unprofessional and unacceptable behaviour of the employees of the sobering-up centre in St Kilda and provide to my constituent what action she will take in relation to those concerns that she has raised with the minister directly.