Victorian police fear they will not have sufficient powers to act when the state's public drunkenness laws are lifted on Melbourne Cup Day.
Government documents have revealed the laws will be lifted on November 7 this year, meaning public drunkenness will no longer be an offence.
The state government committed to scrapping public drunkenness laws after the inquest into the death of Yorta Yorta woman Tanya Day in 2017.
The laws will be replaced by a health-based approach, where intoxicated people are taken to a sobering-up centre or another safe place.
The move brings Victoria into line with other Australian states, except for Queensland.
Tender documents released by Victoria's Department of Health have outlined the state's new approach to public drunkenness, which includes a dedicated Aboriginal Service response in metropolitan Melbourne and 10 regional and outer metropolitan locations.
There will also be a general services response in metropolitan Melbourne, which is not specifically focused on the Aboriginal community.
The Victoria Police Association's Wayne Gatt said the union supported the health-based approach but feared the proposed response gave police little power to act, particularly in regional areas.
"What is clear from tender documents is that the framework that's being proposed at this stage is not an equivalent one across the entire state," he said.
"So what our members in regional Victoria will do post-November when they encounter public intoxication, as they indeed do most days, is entirely unclear to us."
The Police Association argued decriminalisation of public drunkenness in other states still left police with some power to act in certain situations, but Victoria's proposed response did not.
"That's just plain stupid, and that's just going to be a recipe for disaster," Mr Gatt said.
"It may not be on the first day, but at some point somewhere, someone will be injured and hurt as a result, and we'll sadly have to say we told you so."
A Victorian government spokesperson said training was being rolled out across Victoria Police to help officers respond to public intoxication.
"Decriminalisation means that people cannot be arrested and detained simply for being drunk in public – Victoria Police will retain all of its existing powers to respond to individual and community safety concerns and problematic behaviours," the spokesperson said.
"We are working with first responders, including Victoria Police, on how best to support people found intoxicated in public following decriminalisation."
