The Sydney Morning Herald
· collected 2026-09-23 · by Hamish Hastie, Amber Wilkinson
Story summary
Memorial Drive in Rockingham, Perth's south, has been the site of a significant homeless encampment since hundreds of people set up tents along its grassy verges due to lack of housing options. The Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions (DBCA) gave campers until September 22 to vacate, leading many to leave but leaving about 50 still in place by Tuesday night. Homelessness Minister Matthew Swinbourn reported that around half were willing to move while another 16 people had refused help or accommodation offers.
On Wednesday morning, police and DBCA officers arrived at the site, informing remaining campers they had 24 hours to clear out before facing forced eviction. Most agreed to pack up their belongings. By Thursday, contractors started disposing of abandoned camping materials and rubbish from the area as 10-15 campsites still remained. A black Ford Falcon performed a burnout near Memorial Drive during these operations.
Rockingham Police charged a 35-year-old man with trespassing in connection with the event; he will appear in court on October 9. The government claims it has been providing resources and support services for those affected by the closure.
Written for “Memorial Drive Evictions” on 2026-10-05,
grounded in this article and the 3 other(s) covering the same event.
The remaining occupants of a homeless encampment on Memorial Drive in the City of Rockingham have been given a final warning to vacate.
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occupants → remain → warning
Dozens of police and department officers attended the encampment on Wednesday morning to deliver final notices to about 50 people remaining on the street that they have 24 hours to remove or face a forced eviction.
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they → attend → eviction
Memorial Drive has become a flashpoint for Perth’s housing crisis, with hundreds of people at one point setting up along its grassy verges complaining they had nowhere else to go.
Department of Biodiversity, Conservation and Attractions officers last week alerted the encampment it had until September 22 to pack up, which resulted in dozens of people leaving.
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dozens → become → people
The state government has previously said it had been pouring resources into helping residents find more suitable accommodation.
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residents → say → accommodation
Homelessness Minister Matthew Swinbourn said as of Tuesday night between 45 and 50 people still at the camp with around half telling authorities they would move on.
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they → say → authorities
He said about 16 people had flatly refused to engage with services or declined offers of accommodation and support.
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people → say → accommodation
Gemma Jones has been at the encampment for up to nine months and described the show of force with police on Wednesday as intimidating.
“It’s pretty disgusting.
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It → describe → Wednesday
They have so much force to move homeless people out, but when it comes down to criminal activities, they can’t work that hard,” she told 9News Perth.
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she → have → Perth
They were very polite, but it’s still intimidating, and it
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it → ’ → ?
They’re meant to push us out.”
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They → mean → us
Jones said she didn’t know what the next 24 hours held because she had nowhere to go.
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she → say → nowhere
Sarah Allum questioned the level of support offered to Memorial Drive residents.
“Why don’t they help instead of just shoving us on?” she said.
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she → question → us
It doesn’t matter.”
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It → matter → ?
DBCA officers methodically worked through the remaining campsite delivering notices to residents, which included offers to store belongings if they had nowhere to take them.
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they → work → them
On the ground there was no aggression, but frustrated campers were reiterating with DBCA officers they had nowhere else to go.
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they → be → nowhere
Swinbourn said residents had been given a week’s notice of the state’s intention to shut the site, and there had been huge levels of outreach.
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residents → say → outreach
“Since then, outreach workers have increased their engagement with the people there, offering accommodation, support and connections to services daily,” he said.
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he → increase → services
“This is in addition to the increased outreach and homelessness services directed to Memorial Drive and the surrounding area over the past several months.
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This → increase → months
“Outreach services have engaged with individuals on more than 1000 occasions during this time, supporting more than 30 people into accommodation, on to the housing waitlist or to return to country.”
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services → engage → country
Swinbourn said the government’s approach had been guided by compassion, but the site could not continue to operate because of anti-social behaviour.
“Police have had to respond to a number of incidences in the area and with the approach of the fire season, those risks were only going to become greater, so the situation is no longer tenable or sustainable,” he said.
uncertain
he → say → season
“That is why we have made the decision that we’ve made to decamp the area and I’ll make it clear that this was not a decision that we took lightly.”
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we → make → that
“The encampment at Memorial Drive cannot continue due to concerns for the safety of those staying there and the broader community, with increasing reports of antisocial behaviour.
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encampment → continue → behaviour
“Outreach remains available to help those people who are willing to engage – no one is being abandoned.”
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one → remain → people
Swinbourn said ongoing support would be provided through the Salvos Centre of Hope and The Crew, which would soon expand to provide daytime case management services.
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which → say → services
WA Counsel of Social Services chief executive Louise Giolitto said Memorial Drive was a very visible and distressing example of the broader homelessness issue across WA.
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Drive → say → WA
She was not critical of how the dismantling of the encampment has been handled but said the state needed to do more or more encampments will pop up.
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encampments → handle → encampment
“We always think that safety’s first, and encampments are not necessarily the safest place for people.
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encampments → think → people
What people need is safe, affordable homes that they can live, and that’s what we’re really pushing for,” she said.
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she → need → what
“What we really need to see is some solutions to scale, and we are really inviting government to look at a coordinated, scaled plan to be able to end rough sleeping across Western Australia as soon as possible.”
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government → need → Australia
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