In the Inquest into the Death of Tanya Louise Day, Coroner Caitlin English addressed the continued criminalisation of public drunkenness, highlighting its disproportionality and its impact on Aboriginal communities. Ms Day's detention under the offence of public drunkenness—a law critiqued for contributing to high rates of Aboriginal incarceration—was central to her death in custody. The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC) recommended the decriminalisation of public drunkenness in 1989, recognising its unfair application to Aboriginal people. Coroner English reiterated this call for the repeal of section 13 of the Summary Offences Act 1966 (Vic), aligning with the RCIADIC's findings that the offence perpetuates systemic inequality and increases Aboriginal people's involvement with the criminal justice system. Therefore, she recommended the decriminalisation of public drunkenness to reduce these harmful impacts.

Victorian Government

1. On 22 August 2019 the Victorian Government announced it would ‘decriminalise public drunkenness and replace it with a health-based response, in order to provide vulnerable Victorians with appropriate help and support’.
2. DJCS and the then Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) supported an Expert Reference Group (ERG) to provide advice to government about development of a public health-based response. The ERG undertook broad consultation in late 2019 and early 2020 with a range of stakeholders which included Aboriginal organisations, first responders, health professionals as well as community and legal peak bodies. The ERG delivered its report, ‘Seeing the Clear Light of Day’, which included 86 recommendations, to government in August 2020.
3. The government is working towards implementing a health model that aligns with the intention of the ERG recommendations, meeting the immediate and long-term health needs of people who are intoxicated in public. The ERG’s report and information on the government’s response is available at www.justice.vic.gov.au/public-drunkenness. 
4. The government introduced the Summary Offences Amendment (Decriminalisation of Public Drunkenness) Bill 2020 to Parliament on 8 December 2020. The legislation was passed on 19 February 2021 and repeals existing offences under the Summary Offences Act 1966 and makes consequential amendments to the Liquor Control Reform Act 1998 and the Bail Act 1977 to remove references to public drunkenness offences. The Bill was to take effect in November 2022 to allow time to develop, trial and implement a public health response to support people who are intoxicated in public and protect community safety.
5. Due to the impact of COVID-19 on health services, there have been delays establishing these trial sites to develop and test the new model. As this work is too important to get wrong, the decision has been made to delay the decriminalisation of public drunkenness from November 2022 to November 2023. This ensures that the state-wide rollout is informed by practical experiences, is effective and safe, and workable for all of Victoria.
6. On 22 June, legislation was introduced to enable this deferral to November 2023, as part of the Crimes Legislation Amendment Bill.
7. Government is placing the voices of Aboriginal people, Torres Strait Islander people and people with lived experience at the forefront of engagement on the reform to ensure that the design of the health model is culturally safe and led by the needs of the community.
8. The statewide health model will be informed by the trial of the model in the City of Yarra, the City of Greater Dandenong, the City of Greater Shepparton and in Castlemaine. Standalone services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will be implemented in Yarra and Shepparton.
9. The Government has now invested more than $76 million to establish the trial sites, provide safer pathways to help people who are drunk in public, and to commence planning for statewide rollout. This includes the recent announcement of $50 million in funding to be provided over 2022-23 and 2023-24 to continue trial site operations that will inform the development and implementation of the statewide health model. Funding for the delivery of the state-wide model ahead of November 2023 will be sought separately in late-2022.
10. Funding has been allocated to Aboriginal organisations to support these reforms, including to the Aboriginal Community Justice Panels, Rumbalara, and the Victoria Aboriginal Legal Service to support the Custodial Notification Scheme.

Outputs

Victorian Government

Introduction of the Summary Offences Amendment (Decriminalisation of Public Drunkenness) Bill 2020 to Parliament on 8 December 2020.

Outcomes

Seeing the Clear Light of Day: Expert Reference Group on Decriminalising Public Drunkenness

The Seeing the Clear Light of Day Report (2020) demonstrated that Aboriginal people were significantly overrepresented amongst those charged with breaching public drunkenness laws. The report stated that ‘whilst they make up 0.8 percent of the Victorian population, overall 6.5 percent of all public drunkenness offences were recorded against Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people.’ The Expert Reference Group (ERG) provided advice and 86 recommendations to Government on the decriminalisation of public drunkenness and the establishment of an alternative public health model to respond to public drunkenness.

The ERG acknowledged the Victorian Government’s acceptance of the coronial findings made by the Deputy State Coroner in the Inquest into the Death of Tanya Day and strongly encouraged their full implementation. The ERG recommended that the Victorian Government repeal the offences of public drunkenness in sections 13, 14 and 16 of the Summary Offences Act 1966 to achieve the decriminalisation of public drunkenness. It also recommended a 24-month implementation period to enable sufficient time to develop, trial and implement the public health model.

Victorian Government

The Summary Offences Amendment (Decriminalisation of Public Drunkenness) Bill 2020 was passed on 19 February 2021 and repealed existing offences under the Summary Offences Act 1966 (Vic) and made consequential amendments to the Liquor Control Reform Act 1998 (Vic) and the Bail Act 1977 (Vic) to remove references to public drunkenness offences. In June 2022, legislation was introduced to enable formal deferral of the decriminalisation of public drunkenness to November 2023.