Victoria Police has promised to crack down on beggars in Melbourne's CBD as the city's council announces an "assertive" new approach to dealing with homelessness.

Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle said under the official arrangement, council officers would work with Victoria Police to remove groups of homeless people if they affect public safety or obstruct public spaces.

He said the new protocol had been trialled since violence broke out when authorities moved a group of homeless people from outside Flinders Street Station earlier this year.

"The formal signing marks a very important step in dealing with people who are homeless but are also in the public realm causing a problem through obstruction or removing people's right to enjoy public open space," Mr Doyle said.

Melbourne Lord Mayor Robert Doyle says he is confident the new approach will work. ( AAP: Julian Smith )

Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Graham Ashton said police would also deal with beggars who were targeting the city, particularly during summer months when an influx of tourists visited for the tennis and cricket.

"We know we saw last summer people coming into the city, often from interstate, trying to cash in on the tourism boom … coming to basically hassle people for money," he said.

"We're dealing with that now much more aggressively, so we've been making arrests, taking people before the courts."

Chief Commissioner Ashton said police had been working with the courts to ensure some of those people arrested were diverted into Salvation Army programs if they were begging due to genuine poverty.

"But where they're not, we're dealing with them down the criminal justice path if they're coming in to hassle people for money … we're going to be absolutely cracking down on that," he said.

Mr Doyle said the new protocol defined a group as up to four people, and rough sleepers would not be able to block the entry of exits or businesses.

Council officers would also be able to remove items from people sleeping rough, he said.

Mr Doyle said council officers had been working with police each week looking for "hotspots" for homeless camps.

"It clearly sets out a number of scenarios … [if] there are people who are sleeping there and there are two or three of them and they pack up their belongings and they move on the city has no issue, being homeless is not a crime," he said.

"But if there is a gathering of more than four then … they will be able to keep personal goods, but [compliance officers] will remove the other goods and ask them to disperse.

"We needed to be more assertive and that's why we've got these teams now out talking to people and meeting with people.

"We are absolutely confident this can work."

Advocacy group, the Council To Homeless Persons, said it supported the strategy.

"The positive outcomes being achieved through the combined efforts of council and State Government working closely with both police and services, has clearly demonstrated that provision of housing and the right support reduces rough sleeping," chief executive Jenny Smith said.

"This approach adopts the lessons learnt from overseas, which show that punitive laws do not have a positive practical impact on homelessness, rather directly causing harm to people who are homeless."

Violence broke out when authorities moved a group of homeless people from outside Flinders Street Station. ( ABC Radio Melbourne )

Council not backing away from by-law change, Mayor says

In February, the council voted in favour of changing a by-law to give council officers and police "more capacity to intervene" in makeshift camps in the city.

But it said at the time it would consult the public before making a final decision.

The decision was criticised at the time by human rights advocates as being too harsh on homeless people.

Mr Doyle said the council was not backing away from the by-law change with the new protocols.

"I don't think this is a back way, I think this is a step up," he said.

"We probably were not using the existing powers sufficiently and we do have powers around amenity and we do have powers around obstruction we are now using those more effectively.

"This is not about by-laws, or about powers, it's about what works on the street and what we're finding is this works on the streets."

He said the trial would continue for another six months.

The number of people sleeping rough in Melbourne is estimated to have increased about 70 per cent in the past three years.

Health Minister Jill Hennessy said the State Government was set to roll out the first of its new modular housing to accommodate at least 30 rough sleepers.