Bin collections and industrial action
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Update 17 April 2026
Catch-up collections for Saturday 18 April 2026
We understand the frustration that the Australian Services Union's industrial action is having on kerbside waste collections.
To help address this issue, Council has organised some catch-up collections.
These catch-up collections will occur this Saturday 18 April.
We will be prioritising rubbish (red lid bins) and FOGO (green lid bins) in the suburbs of Fawkner, Glenroy, Hadfield, Oak Park, Gowanbrae, Coburg North and Pascoe Vale, and some sections of Coburg and Pascoe Vale South (north of Bell Street) where the ASU’s industrial action is taking place.
If you live in these suburbs and your rubbish (red lid bins) and FOGO (green lid bins) have not been collected, please leave these bins out on Saturday.
Our teams will attempt to pick up as many uncollected bins as possible on Saturday.
If we are unable to get to your house on Saturday, please bring your bin back in until your next scheduled collection day.
Suburbs south of Bell Street eg. Brunswick, Brunswick East, Brunswick West, and some sections of Coburg and Pascoe Vale South remain unaffected as these collections are managed by an external contractor.
16 April 2026
Kerbside bin collections in Merri-bek continue to be affected by the Australian Services Union's (ASU) industrial action.
This ongoing industrial action is affecting some kerbside bin collections to the north of Bell Street. Bin collections to the south of Bell Street are not impacted because they are carried out by an external contractor.
While we acknowledge the legal right of the ASU to take protected industrial action, it's regrettable that these actions affect our communities.
If your bins are not collected on the normal collection day, they should be brought back in until the next scheduled collection date.
We thank you for your patience and we continue to negotiate in good faith with all unions representing our staff.