Shopping trolleys

Shopping trolleys taken and left outside shopping centre precincts are regulated under the Health, Safety and Amenity Local Law 2021 (the Local Law). Shopping trolleys taken outside of shopping precincts can be hazardous and unsightly as they often:

  • obstruct the road or footpath
  • end up in waterways, causing build-up of debris and restricting water flow.

Report to the retailer

Retailers are required to have adequate systems in place to collect trolleys that have been removed from stores and car parks.

Residents and businesses are encouraged to report found shopping trolleys directly to the relevant retailer in the following ways:  

Table showing list of retailers and their contact details
RetailerContact
AldiReport to Aldi via the Aldi online form

Coles
1st Choice Liquor Stores

Report to Coles via:

Bunnings1300 554 777
Target1800 163 900
Officeworks1300 633 423
Kmart1800 124 125
Big W
Dan Murphy's
Woolworths

 Report to Trolley Tracker via:

Your responsibilities

If you use a shopping trolley, it is your responsibility to ensure the trolley remains within the shopping centre precinct. Council may issue on-the-spot fines if you do not have consent from the shop owner/ occupier or a reasonable excuse for removing a trolley from a shopping centre precinct.

Responsibilities of Shop Owners or Occupiers

If you are a shop owner who provides shopping trolleys to customers, you are required to take all reasonable measures to ensure that trolleys remain inside the shopping centre precinct. This may include:

  • providing a system requiring the payment of a deposit to use a shopping trolley
  • implementing a trolley containment system, identification system or tracking system.

Any trolleys that are taken outside of the shopping precinct, despite reasonable efforts, must be collected within a reasonable timeframe and returned to the shopping centre precinct.

Seized shopping trolleys

Council may seize a shopping trolley from a public place outside a shopping centre precinct and remove it to a place for safe keeping. Details of seized shopping trolleys will be published in the table below for a period of 14 days.

Seized and removed shopping trolleys from public places

This table provides information on seized shopping trolleys including date and time removed, seizure location and trolley description, storage location, date to be claimed by and Council contact and reference number.
Date and time removedSeizure location and trolley descriptionStorage locationDate to be claimed byCouncil contact and reference number
*****

* Council currently has no seized shopping trolleys

Release of seized shopping trolleys

If you are the owner of a seized shopping trolley, you may have it released to you so long as you:

  • prove your ownership or right to possession of the shopping trolley to Council's satisfaction; and
  • waive any right of action against Council in respect of the confiscation and of any damage to the shopping trolley while it was in Council's possession; and
  • pay to Council the full amount of—
    • any expenses Council incurred in connection with the seizure; and
    • any expenses Council incurred in repairing any damage caused by the contravention of this Local Law; and
    • any fee payable to Council in respect of retaking possession of that trolley.
  • take all reasonable measures to ensure the shopping trolley remains within the shopping centre precinct in the future.

To start the process of claiming a seized shopping trolley, phone Council on 07 3403 8888 and quote the Council reference number provided on the notice of removal.

Disposal of seized shopping trolleys

Unclaimed shopping trolleys may be offered for sale by private treaty, tender, expression of interest or auction. If there is no purchaser or the shopping trolley is damaged, Council can otherwise dispose of the trolley through any way it considers appropriate.

Last updated:

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