The Queensland Supreme Court has declared that the City of Moreton Bay breached human rights by clearing a homeless encampment from a local park in Brisbane's north. Justice Paul Smith issued the judgment on Friday, stating that the removal of the residents' property constituted a breach of their human rights.
The case centres on the treatment of a group of 11 residents from Goodfellows Road in Kallangur who contested eviction notices issued by the City of Moreton Bay. The council had amended its local laws in February to prohibit homelessness, and in April, it initiated evictions at several homeless shelters. These operations involved police, council rangers, and heavy machinery such as a bulldozer and an excavator, leading to the dismantling of tents and removal of personal property.
At its heart, the dispute reflects a broader tension. Councils point to complaints about public safety and park maintenance. The council argued it was acting on complaints about public health from residents. Yet the court took a different view. The court found the council had failed to adequately consider the human rights of those being displaced, especially the risk of having no viable alternative housing.
The Moreton Bay situation sits within a wider pattern. Over the past year and a half, other councils, including Brisbane City Council and the City of Gold Coast, have implemented similar measures to remove homeless encampments from public spaces. This ruling signals that such approaches may face legal obstacles.
The council's position on resource constraints deserves acknowledgement. Local governments operate under budget constraints and competing demands from ratepayers. Homelessness is genuinely complex, involving public health, safety, service provision, and housing shortage all at once. No honest person can claim it has simple solutions.
Yet the court found the council had crossed a line. By using heavy machinery to clear tents and personal belongings without securing alternative housing first, the council failed to properly weigh the human rights implications of its decisions. Many of these individuals had previously been displaced from another area at Eddie Highland Park, highlighting a pattern of forced relocations.
The ruling raises a practical question for councils across Queensland: how do you manage public spaces while respecting the rights of people with nowhere else to go? The answer cannot be to simply move the problem along. But it also cannot be expensive enforcement cycles that fail to address homelessness itself.
What the decision seems to require is that councils must think through their approach more carefully. The answer is housing, as advocates argue. Before evicting, councils need to demonstrate they have considered alternative accommodation, consulted with support services, and made genuine attempts to find solutions that respect human dignity.
This does not mean rough sleepers can camp indefinitely in every public park. Rather, it means councils must follow due process, consider alternatives, and take human rights seriously. The court's judgment reflects an emerging legal consensus that you cannot simply declare homelessness illegal and expect the problem to disappear.
For Moreton Bay and other Queensland councils, the path forward requires coordination between local government, state housing authorities, and community services. Attention turns to how local authorities will address homelessness moving forward, with potential implications for housing policies and social services across Queensland. The court has set a boundary on enforcement. Now councils must invest in solutions that actually work.