Homeless advocates will camp in Melbourne's CBD during the White Night cultural festival to protest the city's proposed rough sleeping ban.

They will camp and protest on the State Library lawns on Saturday in opposition to new City of Melbourne proposals aimed at making it more difficult to sleep rough.

The annual White Night event attracts an average of 500,000 people to the CBD for exhibitions, street performances and lighting displays taking place over 12 hours.

The proposed by-law amendments include banning any form of public camping and making it easier for the confiscation of unattended property.

The council will also run a public relations campaign to discourage people giving money to the homeless.

The city's homeless count has increased 74 per cent in two years.

Five people, including protesters, were arrested, and three police officers injured when a makeshift homeless camp at Melbourne's Flinders Street was shut down on February 1.

The "Houses Need People, People Need Houses" group says the council's approach is based on law and order rather than justice.

"We are calling on Melbourne City Council to back down from the homeless ban and on our right to give," it said on Facebook.

A 28-day public consultation period opened on Thursday and the amendments aren't expected to come into force until April at the earliest.

The council says the changes aren't a ban on rough sleeping and will broaden restrictions around camping to "better balance" the needs of all people in sharing public space.

"We know that having more affordable housing options is the best way to end homelessness and the Victorian government is working to address this issue," Deputy Lord Mayor Arron Wood said.