Victoria will decriminalise public drunkenness on Melbourne Cup day, despite a dedicated sobering-up centre failing to open in time.
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Mental Health Minister Ingrid Stitt has confirmed construction and refurbishment delays will prevent the Collingwood facility opening by November 7, as Victoria shifts to a health-led response to public intoxication.
Not-for-profit organisation Cohealth will operate the 20-bed sobering up centre but it won't be ready to start accepting intoxicated people by the time the law changes.
"It won't be very far off," Ms Stitt told reporters on Sunday.
"We're very confident that it will be up and running soon."
Cohealth will continue to operate a six-bed trial site on Gertrude St until the Collingwood site opens.
Ms Stitt defended the law change taking effect on Cup day, when tens of thousands are expected to flock to Flemington Racecourse.
"It wouldn't matter what day the laws are implemented," she said.
"It's important that we don't lose sight of the very important reasons why we're pursuing this reform, and that is to have a health-led response rather than crime-led response."
The Victorian opposition is calling for the government to use this parliamentary sitting week to pause the law change to ensure lives aren't put at risk.
"They need to be delayed until there is an adequate health response in place," opposition police spokesman Brad Battin said.
Police Association of Victoria secretary Wayne Gatt said the delay was characteristic of the government's overall handling of the reform, which he said had lurched from ill-considered to woefully under prepared.
"Despite repeated calls for the government to adopt progressive reform with a dose of common sense, it has forged ahead recklessly," Mr Gatt said in a statement.
"Now, it finds itself just days away from turning the tap off on policing services and replacing it with nothing."
Other permanent sobering up centres are yet to be established across the state under the revised approach.
Mr Gatt said questions remained about what services would be available elsewhere and what would happen if drunk people refused to go.
A leaked training video showed officers would be forced to leave drunk people in the street if it's determined they don't need an ambulance and they don't want a taxi or rideshare service to take them home.
Victorians should still ring triple zero if they see a drunk person in public, to enable ambulance and police call-takers to assess whether to refer the case to outreach services and sobering-up centres, Ms Stitt said.
"The Victorian government committed to decriminalising public drunkenness at the 2019 coronial inquest into the death of Yorta Yorta woman Tanya Day.
She was arrested for being drunk in a public place and died after hitting her head in a concrete cell at Castlemaine Police Station.
A coroner found her death was preventable.
Queensland remains the only state that has not moved to decriminalise public intoxication.
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Australian Associated Press
