Snap, Send, Solve: Sydneysiders are Australia’s biggest dobbers

SYDNEYSIDERS are Australia’s biggest dobbers, according to a company that receives thousands of complaints about public hazards each month.

AUSTRALIANS have embraced technology to report parking infringements and other public hazards and nuisances and it turns out inner west Sydneysiders are the biggest dobbers.

The massive council area — which takes in the former councils of Leichhardt, Marrickville and Ashfield — has topped the list for complaints about illegal parking sent to the smartphone app, Snap Send Solve, which then sends the tips to the local council to investigate, The Daily Telegraph reported.

Victoria’s Hobsons Bay and Melbourne CBD came in a close second and third, respectively.

Snap Send Solve founder Daniel Gorog told news.com.au the biggest “dobber cities” were closely followed by the City of Sydney and Boroondara in Victoria. Brisbane City Council was ranked 12th on the list.

The app allows users to send reports via the smartphones to local councils by automatically determining which council or authority is responsible using GPS coordinates.

Mr Gorog said the organisation had sent reports to more than 90 per cent of councils in Australia over the past 12 months.

“This year we’ve sent about 96,000 reports to authorities,” he said.

The most common type of reports received were those relating to rubbish, graffiti, problem trees, roads and pavement, street cleaning, animals, playgrounds and sewage.

“The biggest ones are about parking, it’s massive, we’ve received 14,000 reports about bad or illegal parking so far this year,” Mr Gorog said.

“People report anything from pot holes and overgrown grass to cracked paths and roads, damaged roads and graffiti.”

The company claims it has access to more than 600 Australian and New Zealand authorities.

“It’s popular because it allows you to take a picture on your phone and register a complaint in seconds,” Mr Gorog said.

“Users don’t need to find out who is responsible for the area so you can send a report to council or the right authority in under a minute.

“Thousands of reports are registered with us a month because they can report a problem as they see it and don’t need to know who is responsible.”

Mr Gorog said it had also proven popular with users who often reported misplaced shopping trolleys to retail giants Coles and Woolworths.

Originally published as Snap, Send, Solve: Sydneysiders are Australia’s biggest dobbers