Vandalism Hotline - Help Protect Your Garden Shire
The Hills Shire Council makes every effort to maintain the standards of Council buildings and facilities.
In an attempt to curb acts of vandalism in the Shire, Council encourages residents to report any acts of vandalism to Council buildings, property or facilities. These include:
- roads and footpaths
- bus shelters
- Council community centres and halls
- Council parks and reserves
- Council amenities
- residential fencing adjoining Council walkways
- back or side fence of a resident’s property facing a Council park or reserve
- a resident’s front fence (timber, colorbond or brick).
The 1300 884 885 number is accessible to residents 24 hours a day to report all incidents of vandalism to Council parks, reserves or community buildings. Calls made outside business hours will be forwarded to Council’s after hours emergency contact officer.
Residents who call the line will be asked to identify themselves and to provide a contact number. They will also be asked specific questions to obtain a description of the incident, the location and if the act has been committed and the offenders have left or if it is currently occurring and they need someone to attend.
‘Reward for Information’
In an attempt to reduce incidents of vandalism and malicious damage to community assets, Council has introduced a ‘reward for information’ scheme encouraging community members to observe and report incidents.
Under the scheme, a reward will be paid for information leading to a criminal proceeding resulting in a conviction, formal caution or warning, or juvenile justice conference where guilt has been found or admitted. The reward offered is equal to the cost of repairing the damage (with a maximum amount of $5,000 per incident) – subject to a cap of $20,000 per year. You should be aware you may be required to attend a police station, make a formal statement or appear in Court to give evidence.
Vandalism Reward Scheme Claim Form (130.53kB)
Graffiti Vandalism
Council has adopted a ‘No Tolerance’ approach to graffiti vandalism and makes every effort to remove graffiti as quickly as possible once reported. An outline of Council’s powers in relation to graffiti offences are available in the Graffiti Control Act 2008.
Graffiti on Private Property
Council will only remove graffiti from private property if it is accessible from public land.
Graffiti on Property Not Owned by Council (Public Utilities)
The most effective way of having graffiti removed quickly is to contact the appropriate agency directly by telephone:
Australia Post – 13 76 78
Telstra - Ph. 13 22 03
Endeavour Energy (Green boxes, street light column and power poles) - Ph. 131 081
RTA (Traffic lights and signal boxes) - Ph. 131 700
Sydney Water - Ph. 13 20 90
M7 Motorway - Ph. 9834 9200
M2 Motorway – Ph. 1800 196 266