An Aboriginal elder who tried to set up a sobering centre for First Nations people in Warrnambool in the 1980s says he isn't surprised the city won't receive a facility despite other regional cities getting one.
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The state government announced from Tuesday, November 7, being intoxicated in public was no longer a crime. It said the focus was now on giving First Nations people support through outreach services or transporting them to a "safe place".
The dedicated First Nations sobering centres will be established in Melbourne and regional Victoria, but Warrnambool wasn't included.
Gunditjmara Elder Uncle Lenny Clarke said this may mean people in Warrnambool may not be presenting as drunk in public as often.
"I don't blame them for not putting one in Warrnambool because I was the fella who got the money for the sobering up centre in Warrnambool (in the 1980s)," Uncle Lenny said.
But he said finding devoted workers was impossible to keep it operating.
Uncle Lenny said he was the chairman of the Aboriginal Advisory Council to the Uniting Church at the time, which sold $1 million worth of property and buildings to erect sobering centres in places including Warrnambool and Geelong.
Uncle Lenny said as an advisor to the police chief commissioner in the late-1980s, the centre were set up after the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (1987-1991) was completed.
He said the police were tasked with driving inebriated people home.
"But many of the police members started to complain that they joined the police force not to be a grandiose taxi driver," Uncle Lenny said.
He said they then turned to the Aboriginal communities to set up a service.
"Aboriginal people in the community patrolled the area but when a police member came across a drunk person at a hotel or in the street, that member rang up the workers to pick up that inebriated person and take them to a sobering up centre which we had throughout Victoria," Uncle Lenny said.
Lillian Altman
Lillian is an experienced journalist who joined Warrnambool Standard in late 2021. She has a particular interest in writing stories on the arts and culture, health, education, breaking news, police stories, as well as human interest and profiles.
Lillian is an experienced journalist who joined Warrnambool Standard in late 2021. She has a particular interest in writing stories on the arts and culture, health, education, breaking news, police stories, as well as human interest and profiles.
