Graffiti vandals cost ratepayers millions in clean-up bill

Brisbane ratepayers have forked out millions of dollars to clean up tens of thousands of graffiti tags that have been left by vandals across the city.

BRISBANE ratepayers have forked out millions of dollars to clean up tens of thousands of graffiti tags that have been left by vandals across the city.

The Courier-Mail can reveal a whopping 60,000 tags — or 164 a day — were removed by council in the past year under their graffiti management taskforce, which led to more than 100 vandals being slapped with charges.

GRAFFITI, ART OR VANDALISM — YOU BE THE JUDGE

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner will today announce that over one million tags have been scrubbed clean since the program was launched a decade ago.

Lord Mayor Adrian Schrinner will today announce more than one million tags have been scrubbed clean since Brisbane City Council’s graffiti management taskforce was launched.

The CBD had the most tags removed in 2018, followed by South Brisbane, Greenslopes, West End and Paddington.

Council spent about $3.2 million on the taskforce in the past financial year, with another $3.4 million set aside for the next 12 months.

Cr Schrinner said every ratepayer dollar spent cleaning graffiti and replacing public infrastructure could have been spent on delivering better parks and roads.

“Council works tirelessly to keep Brisbane looking its best, and vandals intentionally destroying Brisbane’s amenities with senseless graffiti tags is simply not OK,” he said.

Last year, there were 123 offenders charged with 1327 graffiti-related offences — down from the 3498 charges that were laid against 104 vandals the previous year.

Brisbane City Council’s Community and Lifestyle chairman Peter Matic said residents played a critical role in the fight against graffiti and should report vandalism to the council.

Birsbane City Council’s Community and Lifestyle chairman Peter Matic says public art projects are a deterrent for graffiti vandals. Picture: Richard Walker

He said they had engaged with local artists and organisations in recent years to create murals as graffiti prevention measures.

“There is a big difference between public art and tags, however public art rarely gets covered in graffiti,” he said.

“Our traffic signal boxes are also turned into works of art through our Artforce initiative, which invites local artists to paint signal boxes, which otherwise may have been targeted by graffiti vandals.

“Council also regularly provides educational advice to small businesses, community organisations and schools on graffiti impacts, prevention and managements, along with graffiti removal kits.”

Locals are encouraged to report graffiti to council and police.