Moreton Bay illegally evicted homeless campers, Queensland Supreme Court rules

2026, March 9

Australia

This past Friday, Justice Paul Smith of the Supreme Court of Queensland ruled that the City of Moreton Bay Council, immediately north of Brisbane, Australia, acted unlawfully when it removed several homeless people camping in public parks last year. The court concluded the Council breached the law by providing insufficient time for the homeless people to find alternative accommodation and by disposing of their personal belongings without consent.

In the judgement, Justice Smith said the Council made "errors of law" finding that the Council's seizure and disposal of the property of eight homeless people at Eddie Hyland Park — including their tents and other personal belongings — without consent in April and May last year violated human rights. Although the eviction involved eight campers at the park, the legal case was brought by eleven applicants who said they were affected by the Council's enforcement actions. The judgement noted that the Council would still be allowed to remove campers from public parks provided this was done "lawfully".

On Friday, the Council published a statement noting that eight homeless people had taken the Council to court and linking to the Supreme Court judgement. In that statement Council stated it would continue enforcing its ban on camping on public land. Responsibility for providing shelter to homeless people rested with the Queensland state government according to the Council.

The court scheduled the next hearing in three weeks to determine relief and costs.

Basic Rights Queensland and the Queensland Human Rights Commission supported the campers in the legal proceedings.

The Council's actions followed its decision earlier in February last year to ban camping on public land, which made camping illegal on public land within the Council from March 12, 2025.