- Record $36.8 million for city cleaning
- Record $5.7 million to boost city safety
- $28.5 million for waste collection
- $12 million for Make Room
A record $60.9 million investment will continue the City of Melbourne’s work to building a cleaner, safer and more caring community to respond to the priorities of our growing population.
Detailed in the draft Budget 2023-24, CCTV cameras will be installed in seven key locations in Carlton, including along Lygon Street and at Argyle Square. The expansion of Council’s Safe City Camera Program will boost safety and reduce antisocial behaviour in response to community feedback.
Almost $6 million will be spent on critical safety infrastructure and resources, including upgrading lighting in key precincts such as Bourke Street between Exhibition and Spring streets.
We know clean streets matter to Melburnians, which is why we’re spending almost $37 million to remove illegal graffiti and keep our city sparkling. This includes more sweeping and high-pressure cleaning of footpaths, roads and street furniture through the targeted Clean Team workforce.
Since launching in March, the Melbourne Clean Team has improved response times by 240 per cent and expanded beyond the Hoddle Grid into parts of North Melbourne and Carlton. This work will be boosted through a continued investment of almost $4 million and extended into more neighbourhoods.
Council will invest $2.4 million to scrub the city clean of graffiti, on top of increased surveillance to crack down on repeat offenders. In 2022, the City of Melbourne’s Rapid Response Clean Team removed more than 140,000m2 of graffiti.
More than $28 million will be invested to collect waste from residents and businesses, while an additional $1.5 million will bolster work to remove rubbish from our streets across the city, Docklands and Southbank. In the past year, we’ve collected almost 4 million bins, containing more than 50,000 tonnes of waste and recycling.
The City of Melbourne, its philanthropic partners and the Victorian Government continue to improve housing access and affordability through Homes Melbourne. This includes $12 million towards the landmark Make Room project, which will convert a Council-owned building into safe and supported accommodation.
The draft Budget also includes more than $1.1 million to ensure rough sleepers have access to food, healthcare and other support services – including partnerships with Melbourne City Mission and the Salvation Army.
An additional $1.26 million will help Council build better connections with community members and identify and act on the unique needs of each neighbourhood.
Last year, the City of Melbourne introduced 10 dedicated neighbourhood portals and appointed seven neighbourhood partners to engage people who live, work or study in Melbourne.
Since implementing the neighbourhood model, Council received feedback from almost 7,000 residents, workers, businesses, students and visitors, who overwhelmingly identified community safety and wellbeing as a top priority.
The draft Budget will be released on Tuesday 16 May, with feedback open via Participate Melbourne from 6pm Tuesday 16 May to midnight Thursday 8 June.
After a special meeting of the Future Melbourne Committee to consider community feedback on Tuesday 20 June, the final Budget is expected to be adopted by councillors on Tuesday 27 June 2023.
Quotes attributable to Lord Mayor Sally Capp
“We’ve listened to thousands of our community members, who told us that having a clean, safe and inclusive city is paramount. That’s why we’re making a record investment including $36.8 million for city cleaning and $5.7 million to improve city safety.”
“We’re getting the basics right today, while investing in a cleaner, safer and more caring city tomorrow.”
“In March this year we launched The Clean Team, a dedicated workforce that’s on our streets from 7am to 7pm, seven days a week. The draft Budget will deliver $4 million to continue this service and expand it to even more neighbourhoods in the City of Melbourne.”
“Everyone deserves to feel safe in our city, no matter where they are or what time of the day – that’s why we’re upgrading our CCTV network and improving lighting to crack down on antisocial behaviour.”
Quotes attributable to Health, Wellbeing and Belonging portfolio lead Councillor Dr Olivia Ball
“We’re partnering with respected community organisations to ensure people have a roof over their head and food on their plate.”
“At the same time, we’re supporting important projects like Salvos’ Pink Car and Project Night Justice to help keep women and gender-diverse people safe on our streets at night.”