Information on how we manage and prevent graffiti and how you can report it.
How to report graffiti
Offensive graffiti
Offensive graffiti is content that can be considered obscene, racist, religious, sexist or gender focused, or infers discrimination against any person or group. We aim to remove offensive graffiti within 1 day.
Graffiti on council property
Council assets include town halls, libraries, street litter bins, parks and playgrounds. We aim to remove graffiti on Council assets within 5 days.
Graffiti on private property
We perform programmed and responsive graffiti treatments along retail strips and major gateways. We aim to remove graffiti in high prominence areas within 5 days.
Shop owners are responsible for the maintenance of awnings, second storeys and parklet infrastructure.
We offer two free graffiti removal services per property per year for private property. The service must be requested by property owners.
Our graffiti removal services only apply to:
- the frontage of your property, where the surface is on your property boundary line
- surfaces less than 3 metres high
We are unable to remove graffiti from:
- surfaces located behind property boundary lines including verandas, driveways, private car parks and alcoves.
- graffiti above 3 metres in height, including shop awnings and second storeys.
- private property facing laneways (frontages exempt)
- porous or fragile surfaces
- locations that pose an occupational health & safety risk to our contractors and crew.
We do not offer colour-matching.
Property owners are responsible for graffiti removal outside the services we provide. You can access a free graffiti removal kit or contact a professional contractor.
Free graffiti removal kits
You can access a free graffiti removal kit by visiting a customer service site or the Clifton Hill Recycling Drop-Off Centre. We do not deliver or mail graffiti kits.
Recipients must be over 18 years of age and show proof of occupancy or ownership on pick-up.
Paint vouchers
You can request a paint voucher to help with removing graffiti on painted surfaces. Paint vouchers will be sent via email and can be redeemed in-store at our paint supplier.
Please include a photo of the current graffiti when you submit the request.
Reporting graffiti to police
We encourage you to report vandalism to Victoria Police. This helps the police gather more accurate statistics about the level of vandalism and graffiti in the local area, enabling them to apply for funding and resources to address this problem.
| Police stations | Contact |
|---|---|
| Richmond Police Station | 8420 3600 |
| Fitzroy Police Station | 9934 6400 |
| Collingwood Police Station | 8413 1700 |
Reporting to other utilities
| Location | Operator | Contact |
|---|---|---|
| Freeways, bridges, overpasses and traffic signal boxes | Department of Transport and Planning | 13 11 70 |
| Train stations, tram and bus stops | Public Transport Victoria | 1800 800 007 |
| Advertising signs and billboards | oOh! Media | 1300 791 989 |
| Post boxes | Australia Post | 13 13 18 |
| Power poles and substations | Citipower and Powercor | 1300 301 101 |
| Pay phones, Telstra pillars and pits | Telstra | 13 22 00 |
| Department of Families, Fairness and Housing (DFFH) parks and structures | DFFH Housing Centre | 13 11 72 |
How we manage graffiti
Tagging and graffiti is an extensive community problem. Our 'whole of community' approach aims to build partnerships with our residents, ratepayers, traders, law enforcement, statutory authorities, utility owners and artists.
Our graffiti management program is guided by our Graffiti Management Framework [ PDF, 2.67 MB] , which includes prevention tactics and support for the community to remove graffiti from private property.
You can learn about how we developed our framework as part of our community consultation process for graffiti management.
Public art projects
We support public art projects as one way to reduce graffiti in our streets.
These projects are effective in discouraging graffiti while at the same time supporting young local artists and contributing to the creative culture of Yarra.
Learn more about murals and public art in Yarra.