Welcome to the new graffiti website. This site aims to raise awareness about the harmful effects of graffiti vandalism and provides practical advice to fight against it.
What's new
 NSW Premier announces government's Graffiti Action Plan
On 8 November 2009 the Premier announced the NSW Government's Graffiti Action Plan. The plan includes new measures to target graffiti vandals and prevent graffiti through better building design and hotspot targeting:
- Designing out graffiti: Make planners of all new state government buildings take graffiti and crime prevention measures into consideration;
- Graffiti hotspot funding: $1 million annual grants program to fund the implementation of anti graffiti design treatments in identified hotspots;
- Banning possession of spray paint cans: an offence for juveniles to possess spray paint cans unless for education, employment or legal art;
- Doubling penalties: A doubling of penalties for graffiti vandalism to 12 months in prison and 6 months for possession of a graffiti implement;
- Clean up orders: More vandals to clean up graffiti instead of paying fines (most offenders are currently fined) and increasing the use of clean-up for offenders sentenced to a Community Service Orders; and
- Graffiti action day: A dedicated day each year for community-based graffiti clean up in partnership with Keep Australia Beautiful.
Recently released reports
The NSW Government's graffiti strategy is informed by research conducted by the Department of Justice and Attorney General. Two items of research were recently released: (1) The Motivations and Modus Operandi of Persons Who Do Graffiti and (2) Review of Graffiti Reduction Demonstration Projects 2007-08. These and other reports/research can be found on the Reports page under the Publications link.
1. The Motivations and Modus Operandi of Persons Who Do Graffiti
The Department of Justice and Attorney General conducted a series of interviews with fifty-two graffiti offenders during 2008-2009 to ascertain their motivations and modus operandi. The majority of the project participants were males in their mid-teens (average age 16 years), which is consistent with the profile of graffiti vandals represented in NSW recorded crime statistics: http://www.graffiti.nsw.gov.au/lawlink/cpd/ll_graffiti.nsf/pages/graffiti_statistics.
In order of frequency, the four main motivators for doing graffiti were:
- The pursuit of fame or recognition.
- The adrenaline rush that doing graffiti gives them.
- Graffiti as a means of artistic expression.
- Graffiti vandalism as intentional malicious damage.
Common styles of graffiti practised by the respondent group were:
Read the full "Motivations and Modus Operandi of Persons Who Do Graffiti" report here.
2. Review of Graffiti Reduction Demonstration Projects 2007-08
The Graffiti Reduction Demonstration Project provided NSW Councils that had a high incidence of graffiti vandalism with funding to implement a graffiti reduction project using one of three strategies:
- Crime Prevention through Environmental Design (CPTED)
- Rapid Removal
- Volunteer programs
All sites were monitored against control sites to measure the impact of the graffiti reduction strategy implemented.
The results of the demonstration projects indicate that CPTED had a measurable impact on the incidence of graffiti at the intervention sites. Further, the findings suggest that the rapid removal of graffiti incidents at and around the intervention sites may contribute to the success of CPTED interventions.
Read the full "Review of Graffiti Reduction Demonstration Projects 2007-08" report here.
 New graffiti laws for New South Wales
The NSW Government has introduced tough new laws to fight graffiti vandalism. The Graffiti Control Act 2008 (the Act) received Royal Assent on 3 December 2008 and commenced in February 2009.
The key reforms include:
- It is an offence to possess implements such as marker pens or etching implements with the intention of using them to damage or deface premises.
- New powers to issue on-the-spot fines to retailers who fail to properly secure their spray paint can displays, or where spray paint cans are sold to persons under 18 years of age.
- Consolidation of existing graffiti legislation into a specific Act that deals solely with graffiti vandalism.
- The Act also replicated the scheme set out under sections 67A-67C of the Local Government Act 1993 for the carrying out of graffiti removal work by local councils. It enables penalty notices to be issued for the offence of selling spray paint cans to minors and for the offence relating to the unsecured display by retailers of spray paint cans.
More information about graffiti-related legislation in NSW.
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