After years of decline, graffiti tags have spiked in the 2016-17 financial year in Brisbane, with West End topping the list with the most number of tags.
Graffiti data from Brisbane City Council revealed that there were 83,334 graffiti tags, up from 59,278 in 2016-16. This was a huge surge, considering that since 2009-10 financial year, the number of tags has gone down each year from 139,891 tags in 2009-10 down to 59,278 in 2015-16.
Inner City Graffiti
The concentration of vandalism for the past two years has been in the Brisbane CBD and the inner-city suburbs. West End registered the most number of tags in the past year, with 4,229 tags, followed by Brisbane CBD with 4,017.
Other suburbs in the top 10 are South Brisbane, Fortitude Valley, Fitzgibbon, Woolloongabba, Forest Lake, Greenslopes, Oxley and Calamvale.
Cost of Vandalism
The cost for the council to remove and prevent vandalism is over $3 million each year. Last year, the council spent more than $4 million to remove 83,000 graffiti tags.
In the next three financial years, the council intends to enhance its graffiti intelligence system, with funds allocated to upgrade how it catalogues graffiti tags.
Vandalism Prevention
To reduce the incidence of graffiti tagging in Brisbane, the council is urging citizens to report if they see vandalism in their area. The council also provided information on how locals can prevent vandalism in their area.
Some of the effective ways of preventing graffiti through environmental design include maintaining clear sight lines, providing adequate lighting, using wall texture or colours that are not amenable to graffiti tagging.
The council also engages groups involved in community mural art projects to provide young people with an artistic outlet, thereby reducing the inclination to vandalise.
In case that there is vandalism in the area, locals should report immediately. They can do any of the following:
- Contact Council
- Write to Council
- Call the Department of Main Roads on 07 3834 2011 for all graffiti on highways and motorways
- If you see graffiti happening or know someone involved in graffiti, report to Crime Stoppers or call their hotline on 1800 333 000.
