A petition demanding tough new laws on charity collectors has been started by a man sick of being harassed during his lunch break.
Ryan Donohue is calling on Brisbane City Council to limit the number of ‘chuggers’ on the streets, and regulate their behaviour.
Chuggers – short for charity muggers – have upset Mr Donohue to the point where he has posted a petition on the council’s website.
A petition demanding tough new laws on charity collectors has been started by a man sick of being harassed during his lunch break (pictured are guidelines for face to face fundraisers)
Ryan Donohue is calling on Brisbane City Council to limit the number of ‘chuggers’ on the streets, and regulate their behaviour (pictured is a stock image)
‘I should be able to walk from my work and come back without being accosted every day on every single corner,’ Mr Donohue told Brisbane Times.
‘Residents draw to the attention of Brisbane Council the surge in charity collectors, or ‘chuggers’ in the Central Brisbane District,’ he states in the petition.
‘Residents also draw attention to the safety concerns regarding the impact to pedestrian flow on busy footways such as Adelaide, Queen and Edward streets by these charity collectors.’
‘We ask that Council make a legislative change to limit the concentration of charity collectors and adopt guidelines around specific behaviour of individual charity collectors.’
Chuggers – short for charity muggers – have upset Mr Donohue to the point where he has posted a petition on the council’s website (pictured is a stock image)
Mr Donohue said the last interaction he had with a charity collector left him feeling upset.
‘I was pretty much told by the girl that she was on commission and that if I wanted to cancel, do it in a couple of days’ time so she would get commission out of it,’ he said.
Charities with face to face fundraisers in Brisbane need to be registered and apply for permits from the council to collect money on specific footpaths.
The Public Fundraising Regulatory Association has a set of rules for public fundraisers, and said the activity is highly regulated.
Face to face fundraisers may not initiate physical contact, follow you down the street, obstruct you, or stand too close to the curb.
They must be professional fundraisers, be polite and respectful and be wearing a charity uniform or be smartly dressed.
They must carry a photo ID badge, carry a copy of a council permit (if required) and stay in the location assigned by the permit.
‘I should be able to walk from my work and come back without being accosted every day on every single corner,’ Mr Donohue said (pictured is a stock image)
In a statement to Daily Mail Australia Brisbane City Council said:
‘Council only regulates charity collections in Queen Street Mall, the Valley Mall or King George Square, and they must first be approved by the State Government’s Office of Fair Trading.
‘Council does not permit the solicitation of subscriptions for a charitable organisation, and only allows the collection of coins or selling of merchandise from a static position.’