However, housing advocates say that by sending in the police, the State Government has made easy scapegoats of vulnerable people.

They say they should have instead acted to house the few remaining squatters, who were largely Aboriginal and have complex needs.

Three people were evicted and arrested from 13 Bendigo Street on Friday afternoon.

Two women were arrested over allegedly stolen property inside the home, while 54-year-old Frank Hayes, known as 'Uncle Frank', was arrested after failing to appear at a court hearing on Thursday.

Their squat house was boarded up, locks changed and household contents removed in trucks, leaving several families with children who lived there homeless again.

Mr Hayes claimed police did not find any stolen goods in the raid and the residents had been unfairly scapegoated.

He said he had an agreement with authorities to have his housing and health needs assessed for permanent accommodation.

That process started on Monday, so he was shocked with the action on Friday.

Mr Hayes said that he had his first home taken away from him as a child victim of the stolen generations and the latest move by authorities was another loss.

"I'm not going to lay down like a two-legged dog. I'm going to fight this," he said.

"I've come back home from being arrested and found all my things out on the street."

There was talk other squatter households on the street would be evicted but this did not happen.

Friday's eviction follows a community meeting on Monday night where some residents aired worries about escalating burglaries, drug taking and harassment.

While supportive of the occupation, those at the meeting passed a motion calling for Housing Minister Martin Foley to immediately accommodate up to 30 mostly young men, who come and go from the street.

Wilson Security guards are now stationed inside the boarded-up house, as well as two other vacant houses formerly occupied by squatters.

"Police and government have engaged with the occupants for the past several months about the need for them to leave the property," a police spokeswoman said.

Dozens of people have been living in houses in Collingwood compulsorily acquired by the former Coalition government for the East West Link, before Labor pulled the pin on the road project.

Emily Angelidis has lived in the street on and off since June.

She said the squatters had been caught off guard by the police action but if they tried to evict anyone else, they would resist.

"They dragged Uncle Frank out from (number) 13," she said.

"He was arrested because he missed court yesterday but you don't need 20 police and a sheriff to arrest one man.

"And then they've used that as an excuse to arrest everyone else who was there. Two women who have kids there, they arrested [their] mothers in front of them and took them to Richmond police station.

"Police pushed him in the car, people were asking 'Why is he being arrested?'."

Ms Angelidis said there were six police cars.

"It was a massive overkill, especially as there's a court injunction to stop this happening," she said.

Lawyer Meghan Fitzgerald, who represents Mr Hayes, said he failed to appear for a court hearing over charges he travelled on public transport without a myki ticket.

Ms Fitzgerald said her client - known to be a relative of boxing great Lionel Rose - was also charged over an incident where he allegedly witnessed a man push a woman and intervened.

Ms Fitzgerald said Mr Hayes had been homeless for most of his adult life. He was a Wurundjeri man, which meant he was homeless on his people's own land in Collingwood.

Ms Fitzgerald, who has also represented other residents living in the vacant homes in a Supreme Court legal dispute with the state government over their eviction, said the state appeared "more concerned with preserving its assets than engaging in a conversation about homelessness".

"I'm really disappointed that the government hasn't been more engaged in solutions to the long-term housing issue for Aboriginal people, particularly in Collingwood, which is a long-term gathering place for stolen generations and we don't want that to change," she said.

According to Ms Fitzgerald, the deadline for the squatters to leave the properties passed about a fortnight ago.

She estimated five houses on the street had been or were about to be vacated with the keys handed over to the state government. About three houses remained in dispute, she said.

The state government had been told that the Homeless Persons Union, an Aboriginal liaison at a community health service and a housing assistance group were still working to find accommodation for the few remaining residents, who were largely Aboriginal and required more assistance.

Some did not have mobile phones, or had health issues like acquired brain injuries or trauma.

"What we didn't want was for the outcome on Bendigo Street to replicate the state outcome which is 2.5 per cent of the population Aboriginal and 25 per cent of the homeless population Aboriginal," she said.