For newly arrived student Inderpreet Kaur, a striking red couch lying on the kerb outside a house was an intriguing sight.
The 21-year-old nursing student from the north Indian state of Punjab said she could not understand why anyone would leave their ‘expensive-looking’ couch out on the street.
“Every time my mum would ask me over the phone 'tell me Inder, what’s different about Australia?' I never had an answer. But now I do,” Ms Kaur says.
“I told her that people here leave their unwanted things on the roadside to be picked-up by total strangers. They don’t care if it's an expensive TV or a bed, they just dump it.
“Wherever I’d go, I’d click pictures of the hard rubbish left on nature strip and send it over to my mother who could not believe her eyes," she told SBS Punjabi.
“Because in India, if you have unwanted furniture or appliances, you’d rather store it or give it to a less privileged relative or your help, but we don’t leave stuff on the streets, we keep them locked inside,” she said.
Is it legal to dump unwanted goods on the kerb?
It is a common practice in Australia to leave unwanted household goods known as hard rubbish for kerbside collection by the council.
In fact, most councils provide hard rubbish and waste collection service to households free of charge once a year or on specific dates, while others use a booking system to make the process more convenient for residents.
Is it legal to dump hard rubbish on the kerbside? Source: Facebook
"Whether or not the practice is legal depends on your location," he says.
"But largely in my experience, the residents are encouraged to put bulk waste on the kerb as it allows the councils to recycle the items or donate goods fit for reuse to charities."
But he cautioned that “before dumping, the people must check with their respective councils, particularly when and what they can put on the kerb for collection,” he added.
Here are some tips for the discarders:
-If your items have not been collected within the stipulated timeframe, they may not be ‘acceptable items’. Be sure to find another way to dispose of them to avoid copping a fine.
-Stash your items neatly on the kerb in a way that the items must not pose safety issues for pedestrians and or motorists.
Is it legal to pick items left on the kerbside? Source: Facebook
Varinder Dhillon and his group of friends who live in an old property in south-east Melbourne claim their entire house is full of items picked from the kerbside.
“Be it the couch, the mattresses or for that matter our microwave, we have lifted everything from items stashed on the nature strip in the vicinity,” Mr Dhillon told SBS Punjabi.
“We just borrowed a friend’s Ute ahead of the collection day in our suburb and to be honest, we got more than what we needed and we are happy with most of the finds,” he added.
But were Mr Dhillon and his friends legally allowed to salvage the junk left by people?
While a majority of metropolitan councils think the practice is ‘not an offence,’ some councils, however, have rules to prevent the exercise.
People wanting to pick up stuff left for collection by councils must check their council guidelines before rummaging through the items.
Some councils advise that that picking up from the kerbside must seek the owner’s permission before taking the stuff, and must not leave a mess behind or break any items in the process.
