Community safety
Join us on Saturday 7 October at O’Donnell Gardens for Safe and Sound Port Phillip, our first annual family fun event about safety in our community. See more below.
What is community safety?
Community safety is a part of all aspects of our lives and is essential to health and wellbeing. It includes:
- improving public amenities
- increasing community wellbeing and cohesion
- increasing social and cultural inclusion
- increasing opportunities for social and physical activity
- preventing and reducing hardship and insecure housing
- preventing and reducing incidents of crime and anti-social behaviour.
What is Council’s role?
We play a role in:
- maintaining and upgrading public amenities and addressing identified blackspot issues
- activating public spaces through community grants and funding
- fostering diversity, inclusion and social connection
- fostering strong partnerships with emergency services, local traders and community groups
- activating and revitalising our highstreets
- providing supports for those experiencing hardship and insecure housing
- developing regulations to promote and maintain safety
- maintaining safe public spaces through CCTV, Local Laws and joint patrols.
Our Community Safety Plan
The Community Safety Plan outlines how we’re working towards building a safe and connected community where everyone feels safe to live, work and play.
The plan contains three key priority areas:
- Creating safe spaces – we aim to ensure that our public spaces – including streets, bike paths and corridors, entertainment precincts, foreshore and parks - are safe and well-maintained.
- Building resilience – we aim to foster diversity, inclusion, connection and resilience for all members of the community, including the most vulnerable.
- Healthy living – we aim to support a diverse and vibrant entertainment economy while reducing incidents of harm.
On 2 August 2023, Council endorsed the movement to revise and extend the Community Safety Plan and approved the development of an action plan which will set our priorities and initiatives for the next two years – until the review date of November 2025.
Read the revised Community Safety Plan (Version 1.1) here:
Community Safety Month
Community Safety Month is an annual campaign held every October which aims to spotlight community safety issues through local events and initiatives.
This year, to celebrate we decided to establish a new family-friendly event called Safe and Sound Port Phillip, which seeks to connect community members with their local emergency services and Council teams.
Safe and Sound Port Phillip 2023
Play safe. Live well. Stay connected.
Come along to learn about safety at home, on the road and within our community.
We’ve joined forces with key partners to bring you emergency preparedness stalls, meet and greets, live music, a mural painting, emergency service and Council vehicles, showbags, prizes and much more.
When: 10 am to 1 pm, Saturday 7 October 2023
Where: O’Donnell Gardens, St Kilda (next to Luna Park)
Cost: Free entry
Everyone is welcome. Bring your family, friends, and neighbours.
Learn more via the link: Safe and Sound Port Phillip: Play safe. Live well. Stay connected. - City of Port Phillip
Make a report
In most instances, your first port of call for reporting a crime or safety incident should be the Victorian Police or other emergency services.
You can report the following directly to Council via ASSIST:
- public space maintenance requests
- local health and safety issues
- pet and alcohol restriction non-compliance.
Victoria Police
If you see any dangerous or life-threatening behaviour or are in danger, call triple zero (000) immediately. If the situation is non-urgent, then you can contact the Police Assistance Line - which is open 24 hours a day, seven days a week - on 131 444 or via their online platform.
ASSIST
You can call on 03 9209 6777 or make a report via our online platform.