Auckland charity wants to be a safe place for homeless under threat from ‘move on’ orders

Thursday, 26 February 2026

A charity that has helped looked after Auckland's rough sleepers and vulnerable community is considering applying to be a legal refuge, to protect rough sleepers if they are told to move-on by police.

Auckland City Missioner Helen Robinson fronted Auckland Council's Community Committee on Thursday, voicing her disappointment about government's controversial move-on proposals for those begging or rough sleeping in public.

“If this goes ahead, I will be legally asking for the mission to become a place of refuge, like churches, where people have a place where they can be looked after and attended to,” Robinson said.

Under the proposal, police have the power to ban rough sleepers from a specified area for up to 24 hours.

The Summary Offences Act will be amended, to provide police with the ability to ban people who are rough sleeping, begging, obstructing a business, or displaying disorderly or threatening behaviour.

The banned individual would have to move “a reasonable distance” from the area, as specified by the police officer. It would apply to people aged 14 and older and the penalty for breaching the order would be a maximum $2000 fine or up to three months in prison.

'I don't think this policy initiative is intended to create harm, but I know is that it will,' she said.

'There is no way that this is going to support a person, enhance their life … how can you imprison someone out of poverty?'

The City Mission, a charitable trust, has helped provide people with food, housing and healthcare services for decades.

They manage homes in a growing number of locations across the city, including 140 apartments across two buildings in central Auckland.

But the Mission is not legally a refuge centre.

Robinson said if move-on orders come into place, they were willing to offer refuge for those ordered to move-on.

They wanted to be considered as a home ground.

“So home ground that we're talking about here is right in the heart of the city. It's literally a block down from Sky City, and obviously many rough sleepers that could be moved on a reasonable distance, [it] would mean that they wouldn't be able to come to our place.

“So should the legislation go through and at a select committee stage, we will be asking for the legal right for home ground - to be seen as a legal place of refuge for people to come.”

Robinson admitted she didn’t know if that was legally possible, but they would try.

“We stand in realities though, where we seek alternatives with people.

“So I wanted to ensure that home ground, that people could come to us, and that it genuinely could be a place of refuge, that they could not be breaking the law by coming to us, but obviously it could still be enacting the law by moving on as they had been instructed to.”

LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.