Advocates for Brisbane’s growing homeless population, led by a city councillor, have pledged support for a civil disobedience campaign to break into disused public buildings and establish crisis accommodation.

On Thursday the Queensland government started placing large boulders under the Kurilpa bridge to stop rough sleepers returning. Until a few months ago the sheltered spot on the south side of the Brisbane river had been a popular homeless camp.

Jonathan Sri, a Greens Brisbane councillor, told a rally at the site on Saturday morning that the continued marginalisation of homeless people required a “bold” and “practical” response.

“Right now there are several large state government buildings, and quite a few smaller residential buildings, that are owned by the government, or are owned by the city council, around South Brisbane that are sitting empty. Some of them have been sitting empty for a couple of years, some of them have been sitting empty as long as a decade.

“I’d suggest to you that we should be breaking down doors, occupying those homes, taking them over and setting them up as crisis accommodation. That’s a very bold statement – it’s definitely breaking the law.”



Homelessness is a growing problem in Brisbane and other Australian urban centres. The National Homelessness Monitor estimates the number of homeless people in Brisbane has increased 32% since 2011.

In recent years camps along the river have been repeatedly broken up, and homeless people have been moved on, by the city council and state government. In 2016 the council forcibly moved people from underneath the nearby Go Between bridge and removed their possessions.

Up to 20 people a night, until recently, would sleep on makeshift mattresses under the Kuripla bridge. Sri said it would be “a blatant lie” to suggest those people had been offered homes or other accommodation.



“When you move people on from one public space they just end up somewhere else,” Sri said. “I’ve spoken to people … there are people who were sleeping under the bridge here six months ago who are still sleeping rough.

“This happens every couple of months. Another space is slowly neutralised and made hostile to rough sleepers.”

The rally became heated when the police arrested a woman they said was holding a wrench during a group photograph. She was later released without charge after Sri negotiated with officers and arranged for the crowd to disperse.

Several people said they intended to lodge complaints about the police actions.

The office of the housing minister, Mick de Brenni, was contacted for comment. De Brenni had told Fairfax Media on Friday that the government had worked to ensure safe housing was provided to people staying under the bridge before “landscaping” works began.

“We are working closely with a range of agencies … to develop a response to this issue and help those people sheltering under Kurilpa bridge,” De Brenni said.

“The response devised includes providing housing assistance to those sleeping rough at the bridge site and landscaping works on land under the bridge.

“A consultation process was undertaken to advise people camping at the site of the works and to arrange suitable housing and support for them. Through these collaborative efforts, assistance was provided to all people who had been camping in the area.”