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As long as spray paint cans are available and bored youths are out for a thrill, graffiti will be an ever constant pain in the rear for law enforcement and local government authorities whose responsibility it is to wipe out the damage and maintain amenity.
And while hoodlums have been thumbing their noses in an act of rebellion, authority figures have been under constant pressure to at least mitigate the damage inflicted on private and public property – some including crucial utilities like public transport, which often puts cities at risk of being labelled as “dumps”.
But governments haven’t been sitting on their hands.
The Victorian government has been extremely active in its anti-graffiti initiatives in its bid to reverse a trend that has been continuously costing governments $1.5 billion a year in clean-up work, according to the Australian Institute of Criminology (AIC).
To combat the taggers, the Daniel Andrews government has invited councils to apply for funding for graffiti prevention projects, as part of the Andrews Labor Government Graffiti Prevention Grants.
Parliamentary Secretary for Justice Ben Carroll officially launched the program that provides grants of up to $25,000 for projects across the state.
Mr Carroll launched the program at the St Louis de Montfort’s Primary School where students have been busy developing artwork as part of the City of Kingston’s Friends of Kingston graffiti prevention project.
The project received a grant valued at $25,000 in 2015-16 and when complete, the artwork will be installed at the Aspendale train station.
According to the Victorian government, the grant has also funded a graffiti removal trailer to help community groups remove tags at their monthly clean-up days at Aspendale, Chelsea and Bonbeach stations, and is supporting regular planting events to beautify the area.
Victoria Police will also deliver an education program, which has been designed to help students understand the consequences of participating in illegal graffiti and the impact it has on the community.
As part of the 2016-17 prevention program, grants are available to councils who partner with their local community to help them prevent graffiti and increase confidence in the safety and security of public places.
