Victoria ignores police calls for offence to replace public drunkenness

Indigenous representatives celebrate decision not to replace law with police move-on powers

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The daughter of Tanya Day, who died in custody after being arrested for being drunk on a train, has welcomed a decision by the Victorian government not to replace the state’s public intoxication laws with new move-on powers, despite opposition from the police union.

The government will on Wednesday confirm its decision not to give police any new powers to arrest people for being drunk in public once the existing offence is decriminalised in November 2023.

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