People experiencing homelessness in Queensland had their human rights breached, the Supreme Court has found.
The Supreme Court of Queensland recently in Bobeldyk v Moreton Bay City Council; Eichin & Ors v Moreton Bay City Council [2026] QSC 27 determined that the way the council evicted and disposed of property belonging to people experiencing homelessness breached the human rights (and other legal protections) of those affected and was therefore unlawful.
The Commission’s role
The Queensland Human Rights Commission intervened in the recent legal action of a group of homeless applicants who challenged the decision of a local council removing them from council land (and the way in which this was enforced).
The Commission’s role was to identify the scope of human rights and to outline relevant factors to assist the court in deciding the human rights compatibility of the Council’s actions. The Commission referred to a range of international and contextually relevant comparative material to assist the Court’s decision.
The Commission’s submission outlined that the Council had obligations under the Human Rights Act when exercising powers to evict people and disposing of their property.
The Court ultimately found that the blanket approach to evictions (issuing short-term notices requiring homeless people to move), without providing reasonable time or alternative accommodation, and destroying belongings without consent was unlawful.
Key takeaways
The judgment adds to the body of cases strengthening the human rights protections in Queensland and further confirms the importance of the Human Rights Act to ensuring dignity for all people. It also confirms moving or evicting people experiencing homelessness who are camping on public council land without due care for their human rights is not reasonable, proportionate or justifiable.
It provides useful guidance for public entities as to what proper consideration of human rights may look like in similar cases (including asking questions of people to determine their individual situations).
Considering human rights cannot be side-stepped just because doing so may appear difficult.
- You can read the full court judgment here.
- You can read the ABC news story here.
- Read more about our role in interventions in proceedings here.