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A regional Victorian council says it will approach the owners of a bush block with compassion, but maintains the property is not liveable and its residents will be evicted.
Single mother Beck Meyers and her friend Nathaniel Muller bought the block near Castlemaine together four years ago and started camping on it after renting became unaffordable.
The Mount Alexander Shire Council is evicting them from the property, which a housing and legal advocacy group believes could potentially constitute a breach of human rights.
The council says the property has "serious" constraints and is not suitable to live on.
An inspection is planned for Friday to ensure Ms Meyers and Mr Muller are complying with council's instructions.
But with less than 24 hours to go until council workers arrive, Ms Meyers said her living situation remains uncertain.
"We would love for them to give us a more realistic time frame," she said.
Council commits to listen to campers
Ms Meyers is investigating the possibility of moving elsewhere within the Castlemaine area, but is hoping council might show some leniency at Friday's meeting while she explores options for her and her two children.
"Somewhere bushy in someone's big backyard or property is ideal," she said.
"We are also open to a short-term rental, but I can't keep up with current rental prices, so it would have to be $190 max per week."
Mount Alexander Shire Council infrastructure and development director Michael Annear told ABC Statewide Drive that council had spoken with the property's owners several times over the years, including in March.
Mr Annear reiterated that the block was not suitable to live on in the form of camping because of constraints including bushfire risk, cultural sensitivities, environmental impact, and the strictures of a farming zone.
"Unfortunately it's got to a point where we've had to ask them to look at moving out this week," he said.
"We will be talking to them … and we'll go to that with compassion.
"We will talk to them and listen to their situation."
He said he understood it was a really challenging time for many people within the shire, regional Victoria, and around Australia.
Mr Annear said council was working with organisations locally to help people experiencing, or at risk of homelessness, including a network helping to connect home owners willing to host people at their property with those in need of assistance.
"That's what our team will be doing when they meet with Beck and her friend Nathaniel this week on the property," Mr Annear said.
Plans for farming welcomed
Ms Meyers said she received a call from council on Wednesday night offering a discussion with her and Mr Muller next week about their plans for the bush block at Campbells Creek, which is in a farming zone.
"It doesn't help with our immediate housing issue," she said.
But she said it would be a welcome opportunity to find out more about what was possible on the block of land.
Ms Meyers said she and Mr Muller wanted to establish a farming practice on the land, which they have also been rehabilitating.
"Because it's not possible to live in a form of camping — that they're currently requesting at the moment — in the long-term, it's not saying that they're not able to use the property," Mr Annear said.
"It was great to hear that they're looking to create a farming business.
"That's fantastic. That's exactly what the block is there for, and it's allowed to be done."
Ms Meyers said she was also seeking advice about whether there might be a legal avenue that allowed for camping on the property, which she said had a history of camping extending back about 70 years.
'Where do they go?'
Gippsland lawyer and former Law Institute of Victoria president Mark Woods said there was no doubt the council had the power to regulate camping within its municipality.
"Ultimately it's a matter of the interpretation of the word 'camping'," he said.
"If it is in fact camping, then the council has the right to tell them to stop, and if they don't stop, then to take steps to remove them from their own land.
"The problem really is that the council has already passed another by-law which says that it's okay to set up camping sites in circumstances where there's a permanent dwelling.
"To a lot of people that will seem a little bit incongruous, just because there's no dwelling house here."
Matthew Parkinson from Bendigo charity Make A Difference, Change Our World (MADCOW) said property owners being evicted from their own land was not a situation he comes across often when he's helping people experiencing, or at risk of homelessness.
"Although I understand where the council might be coming from, we encourage the Mount Alexander Shire Council to see if there is some compromise they can come to, particularly in these times," Mr Parkinson said.
He said the number of rough sleepers the organisation was helping was growing as accommodation becomes harder to find.
The lead-in to winter was also a time when Mr Parkinson said housing difficulties, and the pressures on the organisations seeking to help, are exacerbated.
Potential human rights breach, lawyer says
Damian Stock, the chief executive for housing advocacy and legal rights group ARC Justice in nearby Bendigo, said the shire council could find itself before the Supreme Court if it breached the Human Rights Act.
"This particular matter is not something that we've seen before where councils are seeking to remove someone from land that they own," he said.
ARC Justice has obtained instructions from Ms Meyers and gave her legal advice.
"We've got a public authority, a local government agency, that has made decisions to evict someone from their home, and it seems to us that at this stage, the decision has not been compliant with the Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities Act," Mr Stock said.
"We've seen no evidence so far that the decision-maker by the local government has thought at all about the right to home held by Beck and her two young children, or indeed the right to protection of families and children that's contained within the charter.
"If we're worried that the action is going to be taken before the Supreme Court can have a look at that, then we can seek injunctive relief in the Supreme Court to ensure people aren't evicted."
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