Churchill Brook Family Centre praised for efforts to reduce graffiti

30/7/97

Youth Minister Mike Board today praised the Churchill Brook Family Centre for its efforts in getting young people to reduce graffiti problems in the area.

Announcing a new project called Midland Community Street Art, Mr Board said graffiti was offensive and costly to the community.

He said it was terrific to see young people put their artistic talents to more constructive use.

The new project was established to identify legal sites for young people to paint on, rather than graffiti. The young people would also learn art from local artists.

"It is important that we try and steer those young people involved in graffiti to recognise that they can spend their time constructively and in a way which benefits the whole community," Mr Board said.

"This is an excellent program and one which has attracted great support from the local community.

"I applaud the community because graffiti is not just a problem for one level of government or another - it is an issue for all the community."

The current project involved mainly six youth, working full-time on painting a mural on a centre wall. It involved the participation of a cross section of the community including some local 'taggers' and reflected the diversity of ethnic backgrounds in the local district.

Local community businesses funded the project and the Department for Family and Children's Services paid for supervisors.

Mr Board said the Churchill Brook Family Centre would make a significant contribution to diverting young people into worthwhile and positive projects.

"I applaud their approach and as Minister for Multicultural and Ethnic Affairs, am also delighted the mural reflects the diversity of ethnic backgrounds in the district," he said.

The Minister said the State Government's graffiti program was comprehensive and had made significant progress in the fight against graffiti.

Since 1993, 23,500 litres of paint had been used to tackle the problem of graffiti - an amount estimated to cover a super six fence stretching from Perth to Bunbury.

A guide to help local government deal with the problem had also been released in June. The guide provided recommendations to help prevent graffiti and improve the response when it occurred.

Media contact: Peter Harris 9222 9211