Council has endorsed the refined Footscray Place Management and Activation Model, known as the Footscray Welcome Crew, at the 16 June 2026 meeting.

In response to community and stakeholder feedback, the model has been refined to provide clearer boundaries, stronger referral and escalation pathways, a stronger human rights and support-based approach, and more practical implementation requirements.

The model is not intended to solve all social, economic or public safety issues in the Footscray CBD. It is one part of Council's broader place management, activation, service coordination and revitalisation approach.

You can learn more about the endorsed model here.

At the 17 February 2026 meeting, Council endorsed a transition away from the Footscray CBD Security Program towards a Council led Place Management and Activation Model. It focuses on coordination, activation and amenity.

At its meeting on 21 April 2026, Council endorsed the proposed model for the purposes of community consultation and engagement.

The Footscray Welcome Crew is a critical component of Council’s broader Footscray Revitalisation efforts and will be guided by the actions outlined in Council’s endorsed Footscray CBD Place Plan.

The Footscray Welcome Crew will operate as a visible and relational Council presence in the Footscray CBD, helping people feel oriented, respected and connected, while linking issues to the appropriate Council team, service provider or agency.

The model will be supported by clear communications, staff training, supervision, stakeholder relationships and referral pathways as part of its implementation and ongoing operation.

The Footscray Welcome Crew will:

• maintain a visible and approachable Council presence in the CBD
• provide information, wayfinding and local knowledge
• engage with traders, residents, visitors, community members and services
• identify emerging amenity, safety, wellbeing or public space issues
• support activation, events and positive use of public spaces
• connect people to appropriate services, Council teams or agencies
• record themes, patterns and issues to support better coordination
• help improve communication between Council, traders, services and the community.

The Footscray Welcome Crew will not:

• operate as a security service
• perform enforcement or compliance functions
• move people on
• replace Victoria Police
• replace Local Laws officers
• replace homelessness outreach, housing, health, alcohol and other drug, or mental health services
• provide clinical support or case management
• act as a trader complaints service
• resolve homelessness, complex safety issues, mental health crisis, alcohol and other drug issues, trader profitability or long-term CBD revitalisation on its own.

Where issues fall outside the role of the Footscray Welcome Crew, staff will refer or escalate matters to the appropriate Council team, service provider, agency or emergency service.

The refined model places stronger emphasis on human rights, dignity, safety and support for people experiencing vulnerability.

The Footscray Welcome Crew will be guided by the following principles:

• human rights-based
• non-judgemental
• trauma-informed
• culturally safe
• relational
• clear about role limits
• connected to services
• safe for staff, traders, visitors, residents and vulnerable community members.

Community engagement on the proposed Footscray Place Management and Activation Model was undertaken between 21 April and 17 May 2026. You can read the Engagement Summary Report here.

A facilitated stakeholder session was held on 18 May 2026. The session brought together external stakeholders to test the intent of the model, identify what would need to be clear for it to be trusted, and surface risks, tensions and opportunities.

Ongoing stakeholder engagement, conversations with traders, business groups and support agencies, has helped informed both the evaluation of the security program and development of the proposed Place Management and Activation Model.

The proposed Footscray Welcome Crew has been informed by ongoing conversations with key stakeholder groups, over 700 pieces of feedback and an online conversation via Your City Your Voice.

In late 2025, we received 42 posts and 62 comments on the posts for the question: 'What can Council do to help improve safety in the Footscray CBD?'. Key suggestions and themes included:

• cleanliness and maintenance
• revitalise the CBD to make it vibrant and safe at night
• calls to address anti-social behaviour
• calls for more homelessness and health support
• requests for a visible police presence
• calls for better lighting, seating and greening.