Media response - vandalism of public toilets

Published on 25 October 2023

Response to InDaily.

• The journalist asked for comments about figures showing the annual costs incurred by the council from vandalism of public toilets, and efforts to combat it.

Comments attributed to Kirk Richardson, Director City Operations

How long has vandalism of public toilets been an issue for the council?

As with other council assets in our parks and open spaces, our public toilets are unsupervised amenities that, in many cases, are situated in isolated locations where natural surveillance is less than ideal. As a result, they can unfortunately be targeted for vandalism. This issue has been negatively impacting councils and their communities for many years.

What are some of the most common forms of vandalism from the hundreds of incidents each year e.g. graffiti?

The most common forms of vandalism include:

• Graffiti – writing or drawings scribbled, scratched or sprayed illicitly on or in the public toilet
• Infrastructure damage – when public toilet infrastructure such as toilet pans, urinals, doors, cisterns, toilet roll dispensers, tiles and partitions, etc. have been purposefully damaged
• Deliberate blocking of toilet pans and sinks – when items such as paper and rubbish, etc. have been purposefully placed in toilet bowls or sinks to create blockages that cannot be released by cleaning methods and require maintenance staff/contractor intervention
• Arson – the intentional setting alight of public toilet infrastructure.

What is the likelihood of the proposed upgrades (from the questions on notice) being implemented and would these upgrades help tackle the vandalism issue?

Council will continue to implement crime prevention measures where appropriate and where resources permit, with the aim of reducing the negative impacts of vandalism on our assets and the community. Some of the key initiatives we’ve undertaken, which we believe have had a positive impact on reducing incident, include:

• Undertaking Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design (CPTED) audits to identify what physical changes/additions can be made at a site to reduce the opportunity for crime to occur, such as the lifting, pruning or removal of trees and shrubs to improve natural surveillance
• The installation of auto locking doors to secure the toilets in the late evening and early mornings when it’s more likely vandalism will occur
• The installation of fixed external CCTV with the aim of deterring and or apprehending offenders
• The application of murals to at-risk public toilet surfaces, with the aim of discouraging graffiti vandalism
• Educational programs
• Ensuring CPTED principles are included in public toilet design, and that materials used are robust and therefore more cost effective to maintain and increase asset life.

ENDS