The opening of a 20-bed sobering up facility designed to complement changes to Victoria's public drunkenness laws is running behind schedule, with just over a week until the reforms come into effect.
A key "sobering centre" facility in inner Melbourne has faced delays, leading the Police Association and opposition to warn the state is not prepared for changes to public drunkenness laws.The reforms that decriminalise public drunkenness in favour of a health-led approach will come into effect on November 7, which coincides with Melbourne Cup Day.
But the government has confirmed the facility is weeks behind schedule, leading to concerns the state is unprepared for the imminent law changes.Mental Health Minister Ingrid Stitt said there had been "a number of minor delays" associated with the construction and refurbishment of the Collingwood facility.
"The government has rushed through these laws and failed to prepare their health response as we approach the starting date," he said. "Despite repeated calls for the government to adopt progressive reform with a dose of common sense, it has forged ahead recklessly. Now, it finds itself just days away from turning the tap off on policing services and replacing it with nothing."
"Some people may simply need a bottle of water and to be cared for while friends and family attend, while others may need a more intensive health response," they said."To be eligible to be taken to the sobering centre, a person who is intoxicated must have capacity to give consent, and to be able to walk with some assistance.
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