CBD budget doubles down on safety, support and a more walkable city

The City of Melbourne’s latest budget makes clear that, for the CBD, safety and street-level confidence remain the council’s central political and civic priority.

While decorative laneway lighting remains part of the mix, the bigger story in the 2026-27 budget is a broader push to make the city feel safer, cleaner and easier to move through, with major investment in community safety officers, outreach workers, cameras and the first stage of a pedestrian-focused revamp of Flinders Lane.

Consultation on the draft budget has now closed, with the final budget now due to be considered by councillors on May 26. But the direction of travel for the CBD is already clear.

The most prominent move is the proposed doubling of the council’s Community Safety Officer program, from 11 officers to 22, backed by an extra $1.7 million. The city says that will mean more officers on the street “supporting vulnerable people and stepping in early to prevent antisocial behaviour”.

That is a notable commitment at a time when Victoria Police has already significantly increased its own visible presence in the city through Operation Harmony, which has nearly doubled daily police patrol numbers across the CBD and is targeting anti-social behaviour, retail crime, transport hotspots and homelessness-related issues. The council’s decision to expand its own safety presence despite that police surge underlines just how strongly it believes public confidence in the city still needs rebuilding.

The CSO expansion is also landing at a complicated moment. Recent reporting in The Age on allegations from a dismissed former officer has raised questions about the program’s internal operation just as the council is trying to enlarge it. Even so, the city is standing by the initiative, saying its CSOs are “making a real difference on Melbourne’s streets” and pointing to their role in supporting vulnerable people and preventing lower-level problems from escalating.

Victoria Police Melbourne East inspector Dale Huntington also told the Future Melbourne podcast recently that he believed CSOs were playing a valuable role in the response to city safety, arguing they had very much “found their lane”.

The budget also includes a further $2.3 million to expand the city’s homelessness and outreach response, including for the first time dedicated support for those facing complex mental health challenges. The funding is intended to strengthen the council’s on-street outreach capacity and explore new safe spaces, alongside broader advocacy to the state government for more mental health and drug rehabilitation services.

Put together, those two streams of funding suggest the council is trying to build a more layered city safety model: one that combines visible enforcement, outreach and support, rather than relying on police alone.

That focus extends into the public realm.

Among the most significant CBD projects in the budget is the planned pedestrianisation treatment for Flinders Lane between Swanston and Degraves streets. The proposal would see the footpath continue seamlessly into the roadway at one level, with bluestone paving and added greenery by spring 2026. The council is also allocating $250,000 to explore similar city-shaping projects in other retail core locations, including the possibility of extending Bourke Street Mall.

That is where the lighting component fits in. While decorative laneway and street lighting remains a visible part of the Lord Mayor’s city activation agenda, the budget positions it less as a standalone beautification exercise and more as part of a wider strategy to improve how the city feels after dark and to support traders, visitation and confidence.

There is also $34.3 million in the budget for cleaning, graffiti removal and city maintenance, another signal that the council sees safety and amenity as closely linked. Cleaner streets, more visible officers, more outreach and more people-focused public spaces are all being framed as parts of the same effort.

Lord Mayor Nick Reece said the budget was about delivering “record investments to make our city safer, kinder, cleaner and welcoming for everyone”. •