{"id":597621,"date":"2026-04-10T09:50:13","date_gmt":"2026-04-10T09:50:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/597621\/"},"modified":"2026-04-10T09:50:13","modified_gmt":"2026-04-10T09:50:13","slug":"council-tries-to-recoup-clean-up-costs-from-vandals","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/597621\/","title":{"rendered":"Council tries to recoup clean-up costs from vandals"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Cara<\/p>\n

April 10, 2026 \u2014 3:55pm<\/p>\n

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The City of Melbourne is trying to recoup money spent cleaning up graffiti from the vandals themselves, and says one prolific tagger alone caused $177,885 in damage and clean-up costs.<\/p>\n

The council has in its sights graffiti taggers<\/a> known as \u201cYomp\u201d, \u201cQ Bee\u201d and \u201cBruege\u201d and has been assisting police with prosecutions.<\/p>\n

\"LordLord Mayor Nick Reece in the City of Melbourne\u2019s CCTV camera control room, which the council is using to track graffiti taggers. Alex Coppel<\/p>\n

The council\u2019s pursuit of the taggers follows ongoing legal proceedings against the Jack Gibson-Burrell, who has pleaded not guilty<\/a> to allegations he caused $700,000 in damages with distinctive cartoon graffiti tags of \u201cPam the Bird\u201d across Melbourne.<\/p>\n

Council papers published before next week\u2019s council meeting claim Yomp has contributed to 34 tags at an estimated cost to the City of Melbourne of $4920.<\/p>\n

The council is seeking a compensation order as part of two criminal proceedings being brought by Victoria Police against Yomp and Q Bee.<\/p>\n

The council papers state it has also assisted police in relation to the \u201chigh-profile and high-cost\u201d graffiti vandal Bruege, who it says has contributed to 1712 tags at an estimated cost to the council of $177,885.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Accused<\/a><\/p>\n

One of Lord Mayor Nick Reece\u2019s election promises<\/a> was to force taggers to pay for damage in the City of Melbourne and potentially to be part of the team cleaning it up.<\/p>\n

The council papers indicate the City of Melbourne is unlikely to pursue its own cases against taggers, but instead will seek compensation in proceedings brought by Victoria Police.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe said we would crack down on graffiti vandals, and we are,\u201d Reece said. \u201cThe message could not be clearer: if you spray, you will pay.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reece said the council was using its CCTV camera network, including new camera technologies, to help identify vandals.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf you are up to no good, you are more likely than ever to be caught,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

The estimated cost and resources required to pursue civil proceedings against alleged graffiti vandals is expected to range between $10,000 and $100,000.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis will be undertaken on a case-by-case basis,\u201d the council papers state.<\/p>\n

Every year the City of Melbourne spends about $1 million on repairing criminal damage caused by tagging and graffiti.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Pam<\/a><\/p>\n

The council papers note the complexity and costs associated with pursuing graffiti vandals through civil proceedings.<\/p>\n

The City of Melbourne cannot take civil action on behalf of a private property owner, only in relation to council-owned land or assets.<\/p>\n

The council needs to be able to know and locate the offender and prove who made the mark through witnesses or security cameras.<\/p>\n

\u201cTaking civil proceedings will be resource-intensive and costly for council,\u201d the papers state.<\/p>\n

Swinburne graffiti expert Dr Stephen Glackin said people often did not notice the slow growth of graffiti until there was a \u201cbig bust\u201d such as in Pam the Bird, which brought it to public attention.<\/p>\n

He said pursuing costs from graffiti vandals, whom he refers to as \u201cwriters\u201d, could act as a deterrent but was also likely to be an expensive exercise including not only court costs but also the time to build the evidence base to the quality that a court would accept.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost writers know that they\u2019re not going to get much more than the slap on the wrist,\u201d he said. \u201cMagistrates don\u2019t like putting people who do tagging or do big pieces into incarceration. They don\u2019t see it as appropriate, even though some of these people do hundreds of thousands of dollars\u2019 worth of damage.\u201d<\/p>\n

Glackin said there had been examples of costs being pursued against graffiti vandals, such as two men who graffitied \u201cNo war\u201d on the Sydney Opera House 20 years ago being ordered to pay $150,000 in clean-up costs.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf [the City of Melbourne] can line up all the ducks, then it will go a long way to reducing incidents of graffiti, as it will have direct and strong impact on the offender,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Victoria Police was contacted for comment.<\/p>\n

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