The WA Government has moved to classify graffiti as a stand-alone offense, a move welcomed by councils across the state.

The Graffiti Vandalism Enforcement Act will allow Police to deal with graffiti under dedicated legislation, rather than under existing criminal and property damage laws.

The proposed legislation which will increase police powers, improve provision for clean-up orders and introduce greater fines and punishment for serial offenders.

The WA Local Government Association (WALGA) has welcomed the crackdown on unwanted art.

“The cost of graffiti removal is a significant impost upon Local Government and the broader community... although many of our initiatives are having a positive impact, the current legislation is not robust enough in dealing with offenders,” WALGA president Troy Pickard said.

“Local Governments have been advocating for some time to have greater penalties and powers in dealing with graffiti, and we welcome this Act as it will provide much greater scope to address the problem.”

Mayor Pickard said a recent survey of just nine metropolitan Local Governments revealed an annual bill of up to $1.5m for removal of graffiti across just those Councils.

“This is a significant amount of money that Councils could otherwise be spending on delivering services to the community,” he said.

Mayor Pickard said councils already had strategies to combat graffiti through the multi-agency State Graffiti Taskforce, and looked forward to working with the Taskforce on ways to support implementation of the new Act ,once passed.

“This Act will better reflect the serious nature of graffiti as a crime, with fines and punishment more in line with the impact graffiti offences have on us all”.