Begging is a criminal offence in Victoria. It is punishable by up to twelve months in prison. In the most progressive state, in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, you can go to prison for being poor.
No one wants to beg. It is an exhausting, humiliating and often dangerous way to survive. The people most likely to beg are those who are deeply suffering, and often they are facing a mix of physical and mental health problems, family violence, marginalisation and sometimes, addiction. One third of people who beg are victim-survivors of family violence, many have childhood trauma backgrounds, 77% are homeless and 87% have mental health problems. They have fallen through the cracks.
Governments like to talk in the media about people “doing it tough” and yet, they are content to criminalise the most vulnerable people in our society. It has to end.
Earlier this year, Rachel Payne spoke in Parliament about the tragic murder of her constituent Jessica Geddes. Ms Geddes had been forced to beg by a violent boyfriend who later beat her to death. Ms Geddes’ family violence situation was known to Victoria Police and yet, it was her begging they focussed on. She was treated as a nuisance rather than someone in desperate need of help. She was criminalised for being abused and poor. Jessica was just 27 years old when she was murdered.
Like the Coroner who investigated Jessica’s death, Rachel Payne has called for an end to the criminalisation of begging. She raised the matter with the Attorney General in Parliament in May. The Attorney General recently responded and essentially said she’d have her department consider the suggestion. We urge the Attorney General to do the right thing. These laws are archaic, decades old and, out of step with other states in Australia.
We simply must stop punishing people trying to survive.
Published Tuesday the 2nd of December 2025.
Quotes attributable to Rachel Payne:
“Jessica died needlessly. If her begging was seen for what it was – a poor and abused young woman trying to survive – she could have been linked in with support services.” “As the cost-of-living crisis escalates and our health system remains woefully underfunded, more people will be forced to beg. Out of sight – in prisons and/or “not in my back yard/cbd” – doesn’t mean the suffering ends. Being poor is not an individual crime, it is a social and systems failure.”
Quote attributable to Hamish McLachlan, CEO, Fitzroy Legal Service:
“Begging is an effect of poverty – it should not be a crime. We all ask for help when we need it, but those doing it the toughest are criminalised for it. That begging is minimally policed at present is all the more reason to change the law and decriminalise it. Fitzroy Legal Service would welcome the decriminalisation of begging as a much-needed first step towards supporting our clients and communities who might fall back on begging to simply get by. We should all be free to seek and receive help from others.”
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