Mayor’s Message - Friday 28 March 2025

Graffiti is not a new problem for our community, however disappointingly it is escalating across the municipality, making our city appear uninviting and potentially unsafe.

As a community with a strong sense of pride in our built assets, we know that our residents, businesses and other organisations have been looking to Council for ways to tackle this ongoing challenge.

In response, the City of Ballarat has launched a new initiative that provides the community with the opportunity to band together to overcome the problem.

The Graffiti Removal Program invites businesses and other third-party organisations to enter into an agreement with the City of Ballarat that enables Council’s Graffiti Response Unit to clean up their property.

Previously Council has been limited to only cleaning City of Ballarat assets such as public toilets, skate parks and community facilities. Now, with new agreements in place, Council will have the ability to tackle vandalism on a broader scale.

To facilitate the program, Council has increased staff on the ground and introduced a new Graffiti Response Trailer, with tools and equipment to remove the most common occurrences quickly and effectively.

To further combat the issue, residents and businesses can obtain free graffiti cleaning kits from Council to clean up low-level paint and tags themselves.

The 18-month trial is now underway and at the City of Ballarat we firmly believe that together we can make a real difference in keeping our city looking vibrant and welcoming.

The City of Ballarat is also exploring a range of measures to reduce graffiti including strategic advertising on the walls of businesses.

We are a proud community and keeping our properties and businesses looking their best requires everyone’s help. Through this program, we can all do our part.

Cleaning kits can be collected from Customer Service at The Phoenix Building, 25 Armstrong Street South, Ballarat. Residents can also use the City of Ballarat’s online form or the Snap Send Solve app to report graffiti on City of Ballarat property.

Businesses wanting to know more about entering into an agreement can email Council at info@ballarat.vic.au

All the details about the Graffiti Removal Program can be found on Council’s website.

- Mayor Cr Tracey Hargreaves