Basic Rights Queensland welcomes two successful urgent court applications resulting in orders made by the Supreme Court of Queensland to temporarily stop the City of Moreton Bay from dismantling the homeless camp at Kallangur.
The urgent injunctions were sought after serious concerns arose about planned compliance action at a camp in Kallangur. Despite ongoing legal proceedings challenging the lawfulness of the Council’s previous actions, Moreton Bay Council refused to confirm it would refrain from repeating them.
This follows a pattern of seemingly escalating enforcement tactics across South-East Queensland. Recently, at Eddie Hyland Park, Moreton Bay Council sent in rangers with an excavator, a garbage truck, and police escorts destroying the few belongings of people experiencing homelessness.
“Many of the people camping have been waiting years for social housing, are being punished for simply existing in public,” said Sam Tracy, Legal Practice Director at Basic Rights Queensland. “Housing is the issue. This isn’t just about legal rights—this is about basic dignity and humanity.”
In the Tipler & Ors matter, brought by Basic Rights Queensland on behalf of 11 Kallangur camp residents (half of which had fled Eddie Hyland Park), the Council initially resisted the urgent application for injunctive relief, before agreeing to pause enforcement until a further court date on 24 July 2025. In Bobeldyk & Anor, the original applicants in the judicial review matters, the Council capitulated, allowing the Bobeldyks time to move into their newly offered social housing – and to pay the legal costs.
“We are using the courts to ensure restraint — but we shouldn’t have to rely on court action to prevent people’s shelters being bulldozed,” said Sam Tracy. “The answer isn’t enforcement. The answer is housing. And a coordinated, compassionate response grounded in human rights.”
This comes in light of Moreton Bay Council quietly repealing its previous homelessness framework in March. Since then, community legal centres, homelessness agencies and other community organisations providing local supports across Queensland have reported a rise in compliance notices, threats of removal from public areas, and destruction of personal property.
While the Council claims it is taking a “compassionate approach,” the reality seen on the ground is starkly different. People are being threatened with fines up to $8,000 for sleeping in tents, and their only possessions are being discarded. Disappointingly, this compliance action has continued across the Moreton Bay since the orders came into effect to protect the applicants at Kallangur.
There also continues to be similar actions reported in other council areas, in what is an alarming trend. “Queensland councils should look to Melbourne or Sydney where councils are responding to homelessness with services, not garbage trucks,” said Mr Tracy. “Homelessness is not a crime. It’s a crisis. When someone has lost everything, the last thing we should take away is their tent.”