One-hour challenge: Council to vote on speedy removal of hate-speech graffiti

Jewish and LGBTQ groups have backed a push to speed up the removal of hateful graffiti in Sydney, amid a surge in offensive slogans daubed around children’s playgrounds.

City of Sydney Labor councillor Linda Scott wants hate-speech graffiti removed within one hour of it being reported to the council.

Scott’s notice of motion, which will be debated on Monday, said the council advised residents it would remove graffiti within two business days, with offensive or hateful graffiti “prioritised”.

Glebe resident Ash Wood and City of Sydney councillor Linda Scott inspect a wall that had been daubed with hate-speech graffiti.Credit: Steven Siewert

“The reporting party is asked whether the graffiti is hateful or offensive, and they must explain why it is offensive,” the motion said.

Scott said the current timeframe to remove hateful graffiti was too long.

“Community members who have reported hate-speech graffiti may be distressed at the prospect of themselves, their families and loved ones being repeatedly exposed to hate graffiti over two business days,” Scott’s notice of motion said.

Glebe resident Ash Wood said he felt “pretty distressed and disappointed” when he saw racist graffiti daubed on the side of a building in the inner-city suburb. This masthead has seen examples of the graffiti but has opted not to publish the images.

“It was antisemitic,” he said. “That’s hate speech that I don’t think it’s acceptable in our community.”

Wood rang the council and said he was told it would take about a week to remove the graffiti – a timeframe he found unacceptable.

Sydney Lord Mayor Clover Moore said the council removed particularly offensive graffiti within four hours of it being reported “and is generally much faster than that”.

“We will always assess this service and make sure we’re moving as quickly as possible,” she said.

The City of Melbourne in April signed a new street cleaning contract requiring the removal of offensive graffiti within one hour of it being reported and the daily removal of graffiti in hotspots.

“We know the best deterrent to crack down on repeat offenders and incidents is to remove graffiti as soon as possible – and the newly increased 24/7 presence of our clean team is making a real difference,” Melbourne Lord Mayor Sally Capp said.

Equality Australia legal director Ghassan Kassisieh said more urgent removal of racist, homophobic, transphobic or other hateful graffiti ensured everyone felt welcome and safe.

“Hate becomes emboldened when we let it fester on our streets,” he said.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin also backed the call for one-hour removal of hateful graffiti, which he said was a serious problem, particularly in areas with large Jewish communities, since the October 7 attacks on Israel.

“Graffiti may seem like a low-level offence or a mere nuisance but seeing anti-Jewish slogans often triggers generational trauma and affects one’s sense of belonging,” he said.

More than 40,000 instances of graffiti – including paint, chalk, stickers, texta and commercial posters – have been removed by the City of Sydney in 2023-24, with most identified by the council’s cleaning contractor during routine inspections.

Council staff estimate there have been 25 incidents of hate-speech graffiti in the nine months to March 31– out of a total of 2771 – compared with 53 in 2022-23.

Data from Snap Send Solve, an app that allows users to send photos of an issue directly to a council or government agency, shows there were 3318 reports of graffiti in NSW in 2024 – an increase of 27 per cent from the same period last year.

Snap Send Solve chief executive Danny Gorog said more than a quarter of reports of graffiti were marked as offensive because of swear words, discriminative language and inappropriate images.

“This kind of graffiti seems to be especially prevalent on playgrounds which is unsuitable for children to see,” he said.

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