Following a community consultation process earlier this year around local laws in Monash, Council has adopted the Community Safety and Amenity Local Law 2024, which will become operational on 1 February 2025. The Local Law aims to ensure safety and amenity for all people who live, work and play in Monash, and includes enhanced controls around waste management and neighbourhood amenity.

Thanks to your feedback, we made some changes and, notably, the proposed requirement to put bins out no earlier than 5pm than the day before collection was wound back to 24 hours before collection. The controls around flying aircraft, including model planes and drones, were removed, acknowledging the Civil Aviation Safety Authority role in regulating their use.

The new Local Law has been modernised, and a range of things like graffiti controls, that are now addressed in state laws, have been removed. Under the new controls, property managers need to ensure there are adequate bins to meet the needs of occupants and they also have a role in the upkeep of properties.

The new Local Law now limits the number of unregistered and unused vehicles that can be kept on private land. This will prevent the accumulation of vehicles that may pose a fire hazard, create an environmental nuisance or affect the amenity of the neighbourhood. The new Local Law also strengthens the rules around the condition of buildings, including incomplete and dilapidated buildings. So far as practicable, this will include measures to help see that buildings are safe, secure, and minimise visual impacts.

Council’s Community Amenity Local Law No. 3 is due to expire in February 2025, with the Monash Community Safety & Amenity Local Law set to replace it.

This Local Law aims to ensure safety and amenity for all people who live, work and play in Monash. It regulates things like overhanging vegetation, footpath trading and the protection of Council assets.

The new Local Law includes enhanced controls around waste management, behaviour on Council land, and in Council buildings and the neighbourhood amenity.

Local Laws are regulatory powers that enable Councils to make, fulfil and exercise powers under The Local Government Act 2020 to assist in regulating local issues.

The objectives and intended effects of the proposed Local Law are consistent with the existing Local Law as follows: -

• To provide for the peace, order and good governance of the municipal district;
• To promote a physical and social environment free from hazards to health, in which the residents of the municipal district can enjoy a quality of life that meets the general expectations of the community; and
• To prevent and suppress nuisances which may adversely affect the enjoyment of life within the municipal district or the health, safety and welfare of persons within the municipal district,

with the intended affect to;

• Regulate and control activities of people within the municipal district which may be dangerous, unsafe or detrimental to the quality of life of other people in, or the environment of, the municipal district; and
• Provide standards and conditions for specified activities to protect the safety and the welfare of people within, and the environment of, the municipal district.

Your feedback will be used to implement the proposed Monash Community Safety & Amenity Local Law, which will be presented to Council along with any changes as a result of the consultation for adoption once consultation has closed.

Consultation closed Sunday 12 May 2024.

Each of the sections below provide information about what is different to the existing Local Law.

Click on the learn more link under each box to access the information and then complete the survey below.

Please note: each section has a separate survey. You are welcome to respond to as many of the separate surveys as you please. As part of each survey, you will be asked to answer general demographic questions. This information helps us understand what is important to the many different people who make up our community.

You can also see responses to frequently asked questions by clicking the link on the right hand side of the page (if looking at this page on a desktop computer).

Consultation closed Sunday 12 May 2024.

Monash City Council is committed to protecting personal information provided by you in accordance with the principles of the Victorian Privacy and Data Protection Act 2014.

The information you provide will be used to assist Council staff to determine the new Monash Community Safety & Amenity Local Law.

Your contact details may be used by Council to update you on progress of the project.

You may access information you have provided to Council and make corrections if you believe that information is incorrect. For further information including Council's information privacy policy, visit http://www.monash.vic.gov.au.