Graffiti Management
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The program has four key objectives including:
- To educate the community about graffiti management
- To engage effectively with graffitists
- To ensure satisfactory levels of compliance with legislation and community standards are established and maintained
- To establish methods and regulations for the treatment of graffiti and guidelines for dealing with graffitists in the community
2009 -2012 Graffiti Management Plan
The Graffiti Hotline 1800 355 300 or frankston_graffiti@ums.com.au
Contact Frankston City Council's Graffiti Hotline on 1800 355 300 or email frankston_graffiti@ums.com.au to report graffiti in any part of the municipality. This hotline is staffed 24 hours, 7 days a week.
- If you are aware of the identity of a graffitist report them to Crime Stoppers on 1800 333 000
- If you witness graffiti occurring, call 000. Do not confront the graffitist/s
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Volunteer Program
Frankston Rotary volunteers contribute their time to placing a graffiti proof coating and subsequently removing graffiti on all Council signs in Ballam Park. The crime prevention benifits from the quick removal of graffiti from signs will enhance the amenity of Ballam Park.
Graffiti Clean-up Community Grants
Council has been the successful recipient of funding from the Department of Justice in the 2010/2011 and 2009/10 Graffiti Cleean-up Community Grants program. This funding is used to distribute graffiti removal equipment to local community groups and graffiti removal kits to local businesses in the Central Business District with the aim of empowering the community to take ownership of Frankston's graffiti issue.
What is graffiti?
Graffiti is any unauthorized writing or images on property. Frankston's graffiti (with exception of the rail corridor) mostly consists of tags. Tags are the signature of a graffitist, or crew of graffitists, and appear to look like scrawl to persons outside the graffiti culture. Other forms of graffiti are called throw-ups or pieces which are more elaborate forms of graffiti often linked to the hip hop culture. Another popular form of graffiti performed in Melbourne is called a stencil.
The management of graffiti is complicated by the contested nature of its definition as either vandalism or art. Melbourne City is internationally renowned for the quality of its graffiti within the graffiti, and some art cultures. However, many people find all graffiti to be an affront to orderly society. Tags are usually considered to be particularly detrimental to the amenity of an area. Frankston City Council considers any unauthorised graffiti to be an illegal act of vandalism and works closely with Frankston Police to apprehend graffitists.
How can I reduce graffiti
- If you have a painted fence or house, keep spare paint available and immediately paint over any graffiti that appears on your fence or house
- Some surfaces are less likely to be graffitied. Graffitists usually prefer a solid reasonably flat surface. Fences with gaps such as metal or mesh fences are less appealing as they will not show the graffiti as prominently.
- Become a graffiti removal volunteer by phoning Council's Graffiti Management Co-ordinator on 1300 322 322
Who is responsible for removal
- If graffiti appears on your property or a property you are renting, you are responsible to organise its removal.
- You can report any graffiti to Council's Graffiti Hotline, regardless of whether it is on Council land, state land or private property. Council will take steps to either remove the graffiti, or report it to the appropriate authority. However it is important to note that Council cannot remove graffiti from any property without the owners authority. For this reason, if you have contact with or know the owner please advise the details to Council when contacting the Graffiti Hotline.
- Graffiti that Council has authority to remove, includes graffiti on Council land and private property (with authorisation from the property owner or following a period after the property owner has been notified consistent with the Graffiti Prevention Act 2007)
- Graffiti Council cannot remove, although will report to the appropriate authority includes, but is not limited to:
- Railway stations, belonging to Metro Trains
- The rail corridor, belonging to VicTrack
- Infrastructure at main intersections and roads, belonging to VicRoads
- Infrastructure belonging to Eastlink
- Infrastructure belonging to Telstra
Alternatively you can report graffiti directly to the property owner:
| Telstra Phone Boxes - Faults / Graffiti / Vandalism (Box number or location) | 180 22 44 |
| Vic Roads Signs and Traffic Control Boxes - Faults / Graffiti / Vandalism (Box number only | 13 11 70 |
| Adshel Bus Shelters - Faults / Graffiti / Vandalism (Shelter number and location) | 1800 501 402 |
| AGL Street Lights - Light Repairs / Replacement (Pole number or location) | 132 099 |
How to remove graffiti
| Surface | Remover |
| Brick-glazed / porous and concrete | Commercial products are available from paint specialists |
| Glass / aluminium | Turpentine, or a liquid cleaner such as Jif may be adequate. If not, use a commercial product |
| Painted surfaces | Use matching paint to paint over the graffiti |
| Unpainted surfaces | Removal from an unpainted fence is difficult and usually requires use of high pressure water equipment |
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