Hobart backs extreme weather shelter pilot for rough sleepers

City of Hobart councillors have backed a pilot Extreme Weather Protocol for rough sleepers in Greater Hobart, with a fallback clause that would see the council fund a two-year trial itself if the Tasmanian Government again refuses to pay. The decision was taken at Tuesday's ordinary meeting.

The protocol is intended to be developed with Homes Tasmania if state funding is secured. Councillors also carried an extra clause requiring Hobart City Council to bankroll the trial from its own budget if the State declines again. The minutes describe the plan as a pilot for emergency shelter in severe weather.

The shelter proposal sits alongside a crowded agenda of policy and governance items, including the city's new fees and charges schedule for the Doone Kennedy Hobart Aquatic Centre, an action plan for 2026-29, and council's submission on electoral reform bills. But the extreme weather motion was the clearest service change on the night.

For residents, the practical question is what happens when heatwaves, bushfires or winter storms leave people sleeping rough across Greater Hobart. The protocol is aimed at emergency accommodation during those conditions, and the council has now signalled it is willing to pay for a trial if the State will not.

The meeting also saw council adopt the Hobart: City for All - Action Plan 2026-29, with an added instruction to consider more disability car parking spaces on the second level of Argyle Street Car Park, near the overpass to the Royal Hobart Hospital. Councillors approved the Risk and Audit Panel's annual report and 2026 work plan too.

On electoral reform, council backed a submission on the draft Local Government Electoral Bill 2025 and the Local Government Amendment (Electoral Reforms) Bill 2025. A motion supporting a $10,000 expenditure cap for all councils was carried, while some other reform positions were decided by exception.

Elsewhere, a notice of motion about safety issues from the Transforming Collins Street trial was not adopted as a direct motion and was sent to the Hobart Workshop Committee for further consideration. A separate bid for an external investigation into allegations about food and beverages being removed from the elected members' lounge was lost.