Graffiti removal orders
If your child is over the age of 12 and pleads guilty, or is found guilty by a court of intentionally damaging property with graffiti, they will be ordered to attend a graffiti removal program, doing unpaid work removing graffiti in the community. This is a mandatory sentence called a graffiti removal order.
What is a graffiti removal program?
A graffiti removal program is organised by us. On the program your child will normally have to remove their own graffiti; however, if this is not possible they may have to do other work, removing graffiti or cleaning up the neighbourhood.
We will:
- organise the graffiti removal work
- arrange for your child to be supervised
- allocate your child a youth justice officer.
Find out more about graffiti removal programs.
What does a graffiti removal order achieve?
Graffiti removal orders provide real consequences for young offenders and deter them from committing more graffiti vandalism in the future. Through a graffiti removal order a young offender:
- experiences a direct and relevant consequence for their behaviour
- makes amends to the community for their crime
- understands the negative impact of graffiti on the community.
How long does a graffiti removal order last?
The court will decide how much graffiti removal work your child must do depending on their age.
They must be 12 or older to be sentenced to a graffiti removal order; if they are aged 11 or younger, they will be dealt with differently by the court.
If they are aged:
- 12 they can be sentenced to up to 5 hours graffiti removal work
- 13 or 14 they can be sentenced to up to 10 hours graffiti removal work
- 15 years and older they can be sentenced to up to 20 hours graffiti removal work.
The court will also set a time frame for your child to complete the required number of work hours. This can be up to 12 months.
Rules
When under a graffiti removal order your child must:
- report to a youth justice officer within one business day of the order being made or any longer period as specified in the order
- not break the law
- do the work allocated to them in a satisfactory way
- follow all reasonable directions of their youth justice officer or youth worker
- tell their youth justice officer within 2 days if they change address, school or job
- not leave Queensland without permission from a youth justice officer.
If you move house
If you move house, you or your child must tell their youth justice officer your new address within 2 days of moving. Your child must get permission from their youth justice officer to leave Queensland.
If your child is sick or is having other problems
If your child is sick and cannot go to work, they must:
- tell their youth justice officer
- tell their supervisor
- provide a medical certificate proving they were sick and unable to work.
If your child is having other problems with the graffiti removal work, they must tell their youth justice officer and supervisor as soon as possible.