Removing homeless encampment from local park breached human rights, Queensland supreme court rules | Queensland

The council violated human rights by clearing homeless people from a park north of Brisbane, Queensland’s supreme court has ruled.

A group of 11 residents of Goodfellows Road, a park in Kallangur, have challenged eviction notices issued against them by the City of Moreton Bay last year.

The council changed its local laws to ban homelessness in February. In April, police began evicting residents of several homeless shelters with the help of municipal guards, a bulldozer and an excavator.

Judge Paul Smith issued the ruling on Friday. It ruled that taking park residents’ property was a violation of their human rights.

The court heard most of the residents had moved from another area in Eddie Highland Park.

Brisbane city council and the City of Gold Coast have also introduced similar homeless permits in the past year and a half.