Anti-Graffiti Views

We thought that it was time to shine some light on the polarised debate on graffiti.

Melbourne is a unique place with many multi-faceted people and individual points-of-view and the debate on graffiti is not short of these. It appears that there is a large group of residents that are either angry or upset about the amount of graffiti throughout Melbourne.

From my personal experience and after talking to various friends and family members I was surprised to hear even some abuse about graffiti and the graffiti writers. On the other hand I find that most friends either do not care too much about the topic or feel inspired by most street art in Melbourne. Most of my friends seemed to share their dislike for ’senseless tagging’.

Well, I am sure that many can relate to my personal experiences in one way or the other, but it is obvious that there is not just one view on graffiti. There has to be a valid debate between two mostly polarised groups and we are interested in fostering this debate.

Poster at train station in Melbourne, Courtesy of Don't Ban The Can Campaigners at MySpace

The Victorian Government has clearly taken an anti-Graffiti position. This has been made clear with the creation of the  Graffiti Prevention Act 2007. As the title suggests it aims at preventing graffiti by defining it as a criminal offense when the graffiti has been created without the permission of the owner of a property. The Graffiti Prevention Act gives police and security personnel of public transport companies new search rights.
Under the Act a person in the possession of a graffiti utensil (eg a spray can) can be fined on the spot and has the burden of proof. 

The Act overturns a longstanding principle of the justice system: the presumption of innocence. It is a  reversal of the onus of proof, requiring the person charged to prove that they had a legal reason to posess spray cans. Normally, a person is not required to prove his or her own innocence, but ‘the necessity of proof lies with the one who complains.’ (see WikiPedia)

The burden of proof is a corner stone of criminal law that has been introduced to protect the public from abuse by government representatives and institutions. ’A person has to prove that someone is guilty (in a criminal case) or liable (in a civil case) depending on the allegations; a person is not required to prove his or her own innocence, it is rebuttably presumed.’ (see WikiPedia)

The Graffiti Prevention Act’s reversal of the burden of proof means that anyone caught with a graffiti implement on or near public transport is guilty (and can be fined A$550 on the spot) unless he or she can prove his/her innocence. (See also this informative post on the topic: Clamping Down The Graffiti Prevention Act)

Victorian Premier John Brumby - Courtesy of ABC

The Premier of Victoria, John Brumby has recently critisised Tourism Victoria for using graffiti as a positive aspect of Melbourne when promoting graffitied lanes in a recreated cityscape of Melbourne at the world’s largest wine festival in Florida’s Disney World. The Premier was quoted that Melbourne should be promoted for it’s ‘openness, it’s little restaurants, it’s flower pots…’ He further said that the Victorian government does not want to promote graffiti overseas. “We’ve put through very tough laws to discourage graffiti – it’s a blight on the city.” (quoting John Brumby) (see more in: The Age)

There seem to be a few anti-graffiti groups in Australia.

Scott Hilditch, Graffiti Hurts Australia

Graffiti Hurts Australia (GHA) is a group that makes it into the media frequently. They were founded in early 2008 and based on a US-group by the name Graffiti Hurts. GHA has the sole purpose to prevent graffiti and is opposed to any form of graffiti.

Their founder, Scott Hilditch stated in an interview that any graffiti, council-approved or not, would lead to more vandalism in an area. He has recently worked in conjunction with Connex on the development of a community mural campaign to reduce graffiti.

Some other groups and organisations that oppose graffiti are:

• Keep Australia Beautiful Victoria
• Connex Melbourne
• Neighbourhood Watch

Connex Melbourne have been attempting to reduce the graffiti along their train tracks and Keep Australia Beautiful is set up to make Victoria’s cities look beautiful, clean and tidy and improving the appearance of Victoria in general.

It is a safe assumption to say that the majority of businesses take an anti-graffiti stance. This would be particularly the case if they suffer with their property being constantly subjected to tagging and other graffiti.

There are other anti-graffiti groups, but they do not seem to exist for long. It also seems that most local Councils have a anti-graffiti stance. This should not come as a surprise with the introduction of the Graffiti Prevention Act and keeping in mind that councils represent the electorate. The Maroondah Councillor Alex Makin was elected in late 2005 with a campaign foucused on stronger anti-graffiti measures.

For further reading on Anti-graffiti groups I recommend: Anti-Graffiti a post by Mark Holsworth and Graffiti Studies a site by Lachlan MacDowall. Both posts write about a group called RAGE (Residents Against Graffiti Everywhere). This is another anti-graffiti group that is taking a radical stance against all forms of graffiti.

Finally, you might like to have a look at this site: This Is Vandalism. It shows photos of a variety of urban spaces with graffiti and tagging. This website is not against graffiti, but more a mirror of our streets.

To be Continued (Pro-Graffiti Views)