Significant Drop in Public Drunkenness in Bendigo Over Past Decade

 

 

The number of public dunkenness offences in Geelong has plunged, falling by 227 per cent over the last nine years.

 

162 people were picked up for being drunk in a public place in 2022, down from 389 in 2013.

 

Drops were recorded in every Victorian municipality over the study period, with the exception of Wellington Shire where the number climbed from 55 in 2013 to 59 last year, and Pyrenees Shire and the Borough of Queenscliffe which both recorded two offences in both 2013 and 2022.

 

The statewide drop, which is being attributed in part to offenders being placed into the care of family and friends rather than ‘drunk tanks’, is one of the key reasons behind the state government’s dercision to decriminalise the offence. 

 

From November paramedics and outreach workers will transport people affected by alcohol to special sobering up centres, with police only becoming involved if the person commits an offence.

 

Both the Paramedics Union and the Police Association say the changes could put untrained workers at risk.

 

Image: File photo, Guilhem Vellut, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons.