Butt Free Australia

Skip to content

Enforcement

enforcement

Issuing fines for cigarette butt littering – enforcing local litter law - is naturally unpopular, but it is the ever-necessary 'stick' to follow the 'carrots' of behavioural change.

Enforcement is a message from the community that littering is a serious issue and is unacceptable. Fines vary from region to region in response to State differences in litter legislation and laws. See ButtFREE Solutions – Enforcement for details.

Within behavioural change projects, Enforcement should always follow the other ButtFREE Solutions: Context, Awareness, Education and Infrastructure.

Relevant authorities

Street littering and litter law enforcement is largely a local government issue. However feedback from many groups indicates that it is not yet recognised by the public at large as a major issue warranting enforcement. Many people take offence to butt littering fines, particularly when confronted face-to-face. Authorised officers feel powerless to obtain personal details if litterers refuse to offer it. Some officers involved in ButtFREE projects have requested Police support, however Butt Free Australia suggests that a media comment from Police on the legitimacy of litter laws and their enforcement is an appropriate contribution they can make to a project, given other competing demands.

Butt littering from cars is an easier issue to manage, as registration plates can help identify the litterer. Reporting littering from vehicles empowers individuals to exercise their rights, without confronting the litterer. It is also the behaviour that can result in one of the greater impacts of butt littering; grass fires that, in increasingly common extreme weather conditions, can turn into bushfires.

Currently only Victoria, Tasmania and Western Australia have litter hotlines or registers where drivers can report litterers to authorities, resulting in a fine. See ButtFREE Solutions – Enforcement for details.

Enforcement and ButtFREE projects

Enforcement is an essential component of behaviour change. Enforcement can however create resentment and provoke a dismissive reaction from people not yet fully aware of the serious nature of cigarette butt littering impacts.

There are varying views on the emphasis Enforcement should have within a project. One is that the behavioural change we seek is in its early stages and Enforcement is not an area requiring emphasis until more community support is seen. An alternate view is that greater Enforcement is required as a strong message from the community.

A disadvantage to including Enforcement as a focus in projects is the media tendency to focus heavily on this element. Mention of fines is often a focus of media and inevitably results in a judgemental or negative slant on messages, conflicting with the goal of projects in engaging litterers.

Enforcement and education

An alternate approach to Enforcement often taken up by Councils is to use it as an education tool. Authorised officers might remind litterers how much they can be legally fined for butt littering and offer personal ashtrays and gain pledges. In past ButtFREE projects, officers have enjoyed being part of such a positive approach to litter law enforcement. Some have used 'mock fines' – an example of which can be found in the Tools list below.

Action – Enforcement

Enter the details of littering fines of your region into the project plan.
Indicate if you will engage authorised officers after implementation of each other Solution.