As a point of reference for current controversy about 'Begging gangs' -
Summary Offences Act 1923 (NT)
s 56 Offences
(1) Any person who:
(c) wanders abroad, or from house to house, or places himself in any public place, street, highway, court, or passage, to beg or gather alms, or causes or procures or encourages any child so to do;
(e) has on or about his person, without lawful excuse (proof whereof shall lie upon the person charged), any deleterious drug, or any article of disguise; or
(i) habitually consorts with reputed criminals,
shall be guilty of an offence.
Penalty: 500 dollars or imprisonment for 3 months, or both.
Summary Offences Act 2005 (Qld)
s 8
Begging in a public place
(1) A person must not—
(a) beg for money or goods in a public place; or
(b) cause, procure or encourage a child to beg for money or goods in a public place; or
(c) solicit donations of money or goods in a public place.
Penalty—
Maximum penalty—10 penalty units or 6 months imprisonment.
(2) Subsection (1)(c) does not apply to a person who—
(a) is an individual authorised by a charity registered under the Collections Act 1966 to solicit donations for the charity; or
(b) is authorised by a local government to busk in a public place.
(3) In this section—
"procure" includes—
(a) enable; and
(b) facilitate.
Police Offences Act 1935 (Tas)
s 8 Begging, imposition,
(1) A person shall not –
(a) in a public place beg or expose wounds or deformities, or place himself or herself or otherwise act so as to induce, or attempt to induce, the giving of money or other financial advantage, or instigate or incite another person to do any of those things;
(1AA) A person who contravenes a provision of subsection (1) is guilty of an offence and is liable on summary conviction to a penalty not exceeding 5 penalty units or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months.
Summary Offences Act 1953 (SA)
s 12 — Begging alms
(1) A person who —
(a) begs or gathers alms in a public place; or
(b) is in a public place for the purpose of begging or gathering alms; or
(c) goes from house to house begging or gathering alms; or
(d) causes or encourages a child to beg or gather alms in a public place, or to be in a public place for the purpose of begging or gathering alms; or
(e) exposes wounds or deformities with the object of obtaining alms,
is guilty of an offence.
Maximum penalty: $250.
(2) In this section—
"house" includes a building or any separately occupied part of a building.
Summary Offences Act 1966 (Vic)
s 49A Begging or gathering alms
(1) A person must not beg or gather alms.
Penalty: 12 months imprisonment.
(2) A person must not cause, procure or encourage a child to beg or gather alms.
Penalty: 12 months imprisonment.
Public Transport Authority Regulations 2003 (WA)
r 14 Begging and busking prohibited
Unless authorised in writing by the chief executive officer, a person who begs or busks in or on a conveyance or a facility commits an offence.
Modified penalty: a fine of $100.
Penalty: a fine of $500.
On 27 June this year the Tasmanian Government announced that "following the introduction of the Police Offences Amendment (Begging) Bill 2018" the Department of Police, Fire and Emergency Management has reviewed the existing Act and briefed the Government, which will "now proceed to remove the current offence of begging from the Police Offences Act 1935".
Tasmania Police advise that they will, however, still need to ensure they have power to move people on if they are intimidating, creating a nuisance or otherwise harassing other people.
