Graffiti costs around $100 million a year to clean it up

THE New South Wales Government has launched a campaign to combat graffiti, saying it costs around $100 million a year to clean it up.

Acting Police Minister Kristina Keneally said today the funds allocated to removing graffiti could be better spent on other things.“Local councils spend on average $65,000 a year to remove graffiti,” she said. “And an organisation like CityRail can spend up to $15 million a year removing graffiti. “Now that is really unacceptable, it is an unnecessary use of taxpayer dollars.” According to Crime Stoppers, the cost of graffiti is around $100 million per year and could be higher because many people do not report graffiti crime.

Around 75 per cent of offenders are aged under 18, NSW crime statistics show. Ms Keneally said the NSW government was cracking down on people who sprayed graffiti. Measures were in place such as making it an offence for businesses to sell spray paint to people under 18 and giving police the power to confiscate spray paint from unsupervised juveniles, she said.

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But the government was keen not to curtail street art, in which people sprayed murals, Ms Keneally said. There was a difference between that and graffiti, she said.

“Street art is when someone does public art (on a property) with the owner's consent. “What we have seen is a rise in graffiti, in that sort of art without the owner's consent. “What Crime Stoppers is doing is getting out in the local schools, with the NSW police, and talking to young people about what is graffiti and the impact that it has.” Ms Keneally said the campaign, called Be Graffiti Smart, was aimed specifically at people of school age. “What we know is the majority of people who create graffiti are under 18,” she said. “But what we also know ... is the majority of people under 18 don't like graffiti. “The work that we're doing with Crime Stoppers and with the police in our school system is about ensuring that that next generation that comes through is aware of the impact of graffiti and is there taking steps to stop the spread of this crime.”