Bobeldyk v Moreton Bay City Council [2026] QSC 27
- Court / Tribunal
Supreme Court
- Date of decision
6 March 2026
- Type of proceeding
Judicial review
- Human Rights Act sections
3 (main objects of the Act)
4 (how main objects are primarily achieved)
5 (Act binds all persons) 8 (meaning of compatible with human rights)
9 (meaning of public entity)
13 (human rights may be limited)
15 (recognition and equality before the law)
16 (right to life)
17 (protection from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment)
24 (property rights)
25 (privacy and reputation)
26 (protection of families and children)
32 (rights in criminal proceedings)
48 (interpretation)
58 (conduct of public entities)
59 (legal proceedings)
Summary
After revoking laws which allowed people experiencing homelessness to camp on public land, the Council issued notices to the homeless people, giving them little time to remove their property and stop camping in a park. Council officers subsequently impounded some of the property and disposed of other items using an excavator. The applicants applied for judicial review on the basis that the notices and decision to dispose of their property were unlawful and in breach of the Human Rights Act 2019 .
The Court said that council officers had a discretion as to whether and how to enforce the law, and doing so needed to be proportionate and justified, taking into account the individual circumstances of the people affected. In this case. where the applicants had previously lived in the park lawfully and had lived there for some time, it was open to the Council to wait until after the applicants had alternative accommodation or had unreasonably refused an offer of accommodation.
The court found that the council officers failed to give proper consideration to the human rights of the individual applicants and had unjustifiably limited the rights of individuals to protection from degrading treatment, protection of privacy and home, protection of families, and the right not to be arbitrarily deprived of property.
Bobeldyk & Anor v Moreton Bay City Council; Eichin & Ors v Moreton Bay City Council [2026] QSC 27