Kylie Emery returned from a shower on Thursday morning to find her shopping trolley full of belongings was gone. It contained everything she has to her name: a sleeping bag, warm clothes, her credit card.
Emery is among about two dozen people who have been sleeping rough at Sydney’s Central station, some for several years, in a sheltered spot near the light rail stop. The majority are women, who find the site safe because of its CCTV cameras and public location.
On Thursday, at around 5am, the homeless sleepers were awoken by police and told to move on for two hours, as happens most mornings. They have been told by police this is to avoid disruption for passengers during peak hour.
When they returned, they found all their items had been covered in caution tape – and, for the first time, posters had been erected.
“Please remove all your belongings by 12pm today 31/07/2025,” the laminated signs, which were not attributed, read, “or your items will be disposed afterwards.”
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Emery’s trolley was eventually returned by a cleaner, who had taken it downstairs, but she said her items had been moved and sorted through. Another man who also had his items taken, including his sleeping bag, was told by a cleaner that they had been thrown away.
While Emery’s belongings had been returned, she did not know what would happen in the coming hours. She had nowhere else to go, and it was pouring with rain.
“There’s women who live here,” she said, adding that many of them, including her, have been through complex trauma and struggle with PTSD. “It’s unsafe for everyone [on the streets], but it’s extremely unsafe for us.”
Emery says she has been on a priority list for housing for seven months, after experiencing a home invasion in Port Macquarie last year where she says her housemate was robbed at gunpoint and shot, and then spent months in hospital.
“There’s no way I could go back there [to Port Macquarie], it’s not safe,” she said. “I’m just left with nowhere. I ring up [housing services] and they’re like, ‘Sorry, we can’t help you’.
“It’s horrible seeing ladies out here on the street. There are mothers and grandmothers here … we haven’t done anything wrong.”
According to the NSW street count, the number of rough sleepers counted across the state has grown by nearly 70% in five years, from 1,314 in 2020 to 2,192 in 2025.
Systems are struggling to cope with demand. A report released by Mission Australia on Thursday found demand for its tenancy support services had surged to an all-time high, with a 52% increase in people seeking assistance between 2023 and 2024.
The fastest-growing groups of people seeking support were employed people, young people and those escaping family and domestic violence.
Homelessness NSW’s CEO, Dominique Rowe, said Sydney’s housing crisis was forcing more people, including women and children, to seek shelter in stations, parks and other public places.
“People forced to sleep rough need suitable homes and trauma-informed support services, not heavy-handed move-on instructions from authorities,” Rowe said.
“The government must urgently increase funding for stretched homelessness services so they can help more people in need.”
Amanda, who did not want to use her surname, has been living at Central station for two-and-a-half years, except for a few brief stays in temporary accommodation.
She had a doctor’s appointment on Thursday, but had to cancel it to guard her belongings. She said the warnings belongings would be removed was the “harshest response” she had seen by authorities during her time sleeping at the station – particularly as they were targeting the entire group, not just individuals.
“They’re saying we’re inhibiting passengers, but everyone’s getting on board [the light rail],” she said. If we were standing in front of trains stopping the trains from moving, I would probably say that’s appropriate [to ask us to leave], but we aren’t.”
Amanda said police had given the group warnings in the past, including to keep their belongings tidy and clean, and to make sure benches were made available for passengers.
“But when they moved us on this morning, they said if people didn’t take their belongings with them, they’d dispose of them,” she said. “They’ve never done that before.
“And every time I put a complaint in to NSW police, I don’t get a response.”
In most cases, police require a court warrant to lawfully remove property from public land. NSW councils can remove belongings or tell people to move on under certain circumstances, including those that threaten public health or safety.
Alexia Smith has been staying at Central station for around five months, and has been periodically homeless since arriving in Australia from the Philippines in 2004.
Two weeks ago, she said the group had been advised to move their belongings from inside the station to the undercover concourse. But nobody had been offered them a long-term solution – a home.
“They just create more problems on top of problems,” she said. “Australia shouldn’t treat people like this.”
NSW police declined to comment and said the matter was best referred to the City of Sydney council. The City of Sydney council also declined to comment and referred Guardian Australia to Transport NSW.
Transport NSW was approached for comment.
