On-street charity fundraisers — known variously as charity "muggers" or "chuggers" — often attract the ire of local businesses, but they have proven difficult to police when their direct tactics are still an effective way to raise money.

Key points: There are about 1,400 registered professional fundraisers in Australia

There are about 1,400 registered professional fundraisers in Australia The Professional Fundraising Regulatory Association says it will increase industry penalties for badly behaved chuggers to $800 from July

The Professional Fundraising Regulatory Association says it will increase industry penalties for badly behaved chuggers to $800 from July Chuggers not allowed to initiate physical contact, irritate or annoy

So councils are looking at how best to regulate the professional charity fundraisers over concerns they have a negative impact on town centres.

The City of Bunbury in Western Australia will carry out a 12-month trial to allow only local branches of charities to fundraise in the CBD without a permit after complaints people were being harassed.

But it backed down on a complete ban on street appeals of non-local groups as it was too hard to police.

Peter Hills-Jones of the Public Fundraising Regulatory Association (PFRA) said fundraisers were already subject to strict rules, and it said it was concerned that worthy national and international charities would miss out.

The association's chief executive said fundraisers were already heavily regulated by a series of state and federal laws.

"Charity fundraisers, if they follow the PFRA rules, should not be irritating or annoying," he said.

"We also have to bear in mind that [Bunbury's] policy also restricts the charity collections to cash only, and while cash collections are vital, the overall shift to charity fundraising is towards securing long-term regular donations every single month via direct debit."

Mr Hills-Jones said the number of breaches it had issued had decreased from about 543 in 2017 to 396 in 2018, following an education campaign.

He said charities would be hurt by any harsh restrictions on how they collected money, and was in discussions with the City of Bunbury over the trial.

Local businesses feel 'harassed'

Suzanne Cross has a newsagency in the Bunbury CBD and said only professional fundraisers from out-of-town were an issue near her business.

"I often feel a little bit harassed by them because they often stand right near our store," she said.

"Customers often come in and say 'thank God I made it in', so they are sort of getting that harassed feeling.

Bunbury business owner Suzanne Cross says out-of-town professional fundraisers are annoying customers. ( ABC South West WA: Georgia Loney )

"My experience from those organisations, that I feel harassed by, are the more national bodies, and when you talk to them … they've come from Perth."

Chugging rules: Must not initiate physical contact, including shaking hands

Must not initiate physical contact, including shaking hands Must not approach people who are seated

Must not approach people who are seated Must provide a written disclosure statement to donors

Must provide a written disclosure statement to donors Must have the required permit with them

Must have the required permit with them Must not attempt to follow people

Must not attempt to follow people Must not block or obstruct a person walking

Bunbury-Geographe Chamber of Commerce chief executive Mark Seaward stressed local groups were not the problem.

"They [professional fundraisers] are a disincentive to coming into the CBD," he said.

"If you get one on one corner, you are reluctant to cross over to the next corner because you're scared you're going to get the same tactics to stop you, talk to you, and try to get you to hand over your credit card."

Regulations hard to police

Bunbury Deputy Mayor Jaysen Miguel said the council had considered a plan to restrict any street appeal unless charities could prove the money stayed in the region.

But that was rejected after opposition from local volunteers.

"That would probably exclude someone like Amnesty International," Mr Miguel said.

"There was a bit of discussion of how we actually monitor that. It probably was quite difficult.

"We're not going to be asking for an audit of everyone's charity donations that come in.

"It was modified to say 'any Bunbury branch of an organisation'."

Further south in Busselton, only one fundraising appeal a week is allowed in the CBD, while the City of Perth does not allow fundraising that takes payment details — banning people being signed-up for regular deductions.

Mr Miguel stressed the council would still consider issuing permits to out-of-town charities after concerns were raised that people would not be able to donate to street appeals by charities like the Royal Flying Doctor Service.

The council said the trial was part of a broader bid to increase visitors to the city centre and would be regularly reviewed.

Street appeals raise lots of money

Face-to-face fundraising is a common sight in Australia's busy CBDs and shopping precincts. ( ABC News: Kevin Nguyen, file photo )

The PFRA said fundraisers raised more than $120 million and signed up more than 320,000 donors in 2018.

Mr Hills-Jones said from July, the industry would increase penalties on badly-behaved charities to up to $800.

But from what he could see, Bunbury's trial policy was the strictest he had seen.

"Most councils have a licence-based or permit system that will restrict the number of days, or a particular area, but nothing that goes as far as this," he said.

"We understand that the catalyst for this was local businesses feeling that the fundraising that was taking place outside their businesses was hurting them. We think there is a better way to deal with these issues."