Our Graffiti Management Plan was endorsed by Council in 2014. It describes our response to illegal graffiti and the way legal street art is managed in the municipality including:

• graffiti removal
• graffiti prevention
• graffiti education
• graffiti enforcement
• street art.

So that we can update our approach to graffiti management, we want your feedback on:

• graffiti removal timeframes
• when graffiti should be removed urgently
• areas to prioritise for surveillance and proactive graffiti removal
• graffiti prevention and education initiatives to reduce unwanted graffiti.

How we currently manage graffiti

We respond to over 5,000 graffiti removal requests and remove over 50,000 m2 of graffiti each year.

We do not remove graffiti from all property and assets located within the municipality. Under our graffiti removal program we remove graffiti from private property and City of Melbourne buildings, street infrastructure, footpaths, artwork and parks. Many other buildings and street infrastructure are owned and maintained by other organisations.

We require consent and permission from the property owner before removing graffiti from private property.

Sometimes graffiti can't be completely removed because it has been applied to damaged or unstable surfaces, porous surfaces or been scratched or etched into glass.

What is the difference between illegal graffiti and street art?

Graffiti is any writing or images on property without permission and typically includes tagging, writing, etching, stencilling, images or scribbling.

Street art is artistic work done with the permission of the person who owns the wall that the work is being done on.

With the proper permission, street art is legal in the City of Melbourne. Written permission is required from the building owner and a planning permit may also be required for a property in a heritage control area.