How and Where to Report Graffiti in Melbourne

So, did you know that graffiti is illegal everywhere in Australia, including in the city of Melbourne? As a result, graffiti is a criminal offence which is punishable with either jail time or a fine. However, do you know that it helps the authorities if you report graffiti? But where do you report graffiti in Melbourne, and how?

What is Graffiti?

Firstly, graffiti is any form of painting, drawing, writing or marking on any property that has been carried out without the building owner’s permission. This is the important difference between authorised street art and illegal graffiti.

Secondly, illegal graffiti is seen as damaging to the image of any area. It has a negative impact on the health and wellbeing of  the community. Besides this, graffiti can cause people to feel unsafe and may cause the victims of graffiti to feel angry, vulnerable and powerless.

How and where to report graffiti in Melbourne:

Most towns and cities in Australia have a dedicated department for graffiti removal and Melbourne is no exception. However, due to limited council resources reaction times may be slow. But everyone agrees that to combat graffiti, fast removal is imperative.

So if you discover any acts of graffiti, the first thing to do to report graffiti in Melbourne is to contact your local police station.

For graffiti removal, you can contact your local council. The City of Melbourne is committed to removing graffiti from private and public property. For Melbourne and the surrounding areas you can use the following contact details to report graffiti:

For private property:

If your property has become the victim of a graffiti attack and you’d like it removed, the City of Melbourne will need your written permission to do so. You can call 9658 9658 or email [email protected] to report the incident. In addition, if the graffiti is offensive it will get priority.

For public property:

The City of Melbourne will arrange the removal of graffiti from council-owned property such as public toilets, telephone boxes, street furniture, playground equipment, bridges, roads, footpaths, bike paths and council buildings.

The following are the details of who to contact:

The benefits of reporting graffiti:

While council resources to remove graffiti are limited, and you may even have to remove graffiti from private property yourself, the following is a list of some of the benefits of reporting graffiti to the City of Melbourne:

• Most graffiti is in the form of tags, which can be used as a means of identifying the graffiti artist. But if you report and photograph these tags, the pictures can be used as evidence against the tagger in the event they are arrested and tried in court.
• Reporting graffiti enables the police to gather information and to classify a particular area as a hotspot. This means the police can monitor and increase patrols in that particular area.
• Also, if an area has become a particular hotspot the council may consider planting trees or other vegetation. This makes graffiti-prone walls more difficult to access and less attractive to offenders.
• Alternatively, if it’s not possible to plant trees the council may consider anti-graffiti coatings for graffiti-prone walls to make it easier to remove the graffiti.
• Meanwhile, the council can offer support for community groups interested in addressing graffiti, including ‘adopt-a-space’ and ‘care-for-an-area’ projects.

While the City of Melbourne is committed to keeping the city clean and free of graffiti outside designated areas, recourses are limited and they will not always act fast. So what are the alternatives?

Contact Ablate:

If the graffiti has taken place on your private property you can contact Ablate directly for a FREE no-obligation quote. You may be surprised at how affordable our services are!

However, the best way to manage graffiti is to remove it fast. The longer you take to clean the offending graffiti the more difficult it is to remove. In addition, removing graffiti quickly acts as a deterrent to the graffiti artists as their work will not remain visible. Graffiti is made to be seen by others, therefore the best thing you can do if it appears on your property is to report it, document it, and then clean it up thoroughly and immediately.