When one of her staff members was assaulted by a beggar who usually stands outside her Canberra store, Onur Cajina made a plea to the public to stop giving beggars money.

But was that the right thing to do?

Key points: Canberra business calls on customers to give to charities rather than beggars

Canberra business calls on customers to give to charities rather than beggars Non-profit group says donating to beggars not always a bad thing

Non-profit group says donating to beggars not always a bad thing But short-term payments "often do not address underlying issues"

"We didn't have problems with them sitting outside initially," Ms Cajina said.

"It was only when we saw a number of incidences that really raised safety concerns.

"We're talking about very, very abusive language and violent actions."

After 18 months of witnessing the behaviour just outside her store, Ms Cajina said the final straw was when a staff member became the subject of an attack.

Posters asking people to not give to beggars were put up after one of the store's staff was assaulted. ( ABC News: Georgia Hitch )

Cico Cheung was working one weekend when a woman who had previously begged outside came into the store.

"She just came and shoved me and assaulted me, and threw stuff. She was holding me and yelling at me," Ms Cheung said.

"It was terrible … I was just shaking and stayed in the shop to stay safe."

After the incident Ms Cajina reached out to a local food charity and decided to put up posters in her windows asking people to refrain from giving local beggars money.

"We felt the need to really outline exactly what we witnessed and why we believe there's better avenues to donate their money," she said.

Are charities the answer?

David Crosbie, the head of the peak body for not-for-profits, Community Council for Australia, said any aggressive behaviour by people asking for money was intolerable.

"The problem with this very small minority of people who create problems for others is that it undermines all the other people who are just trying to survive," Mr Crosbie said.

"I've found that it's part of the culture, if you'd call it that, that just being polite is a really critical part of it, of being homeless in a way."

Mr Crosbie said the benefits of donating to charities was their commitment to working on the factors that lead to homeless.

Onur Cajina was shocked by the abuse her staff received from a beggar. ( ABC News: Georgia Hitch )

"I know the charity is going to be looking at the long-term outcomes for people," he said.

"Often a short-term payment to somebody is not going to address their underlying issues."

Mr Crosbie said he had heard stories where begging was turned into a kind of "industry" by people, but that it was not always a bad thing to give money to those asking for it — even if those funds went towards alcohol or other substances.

"In some ways just sustaining people is a good outcome in itself," he said.

"So if the only way that person can be sustained is by begging and getting money to buy food or even to buy alcohol so they don't get really sick because they're dependent … sometimes, in the short term, that's not necessarily a bad thing."