Victoria is facing an escalating illegal dumping crisis, with residents reporting more dumped rubbish than all other Australian states combined, placing growing financial pressure on local councils.
New data from reporting app Snap Send Solve reveals Victorians lodged 118,653 illegal dumping reports in 2025, an increase of more than 2,000 compared to last year’s total of 116,193. The figure accounts for more than half of the roughly 200,000 illegal dumping reports recorded nationwide.
The data highlights that illegally dumped rubbish remains the most frequently reported issue across Australia, topping the list in both Victoria and South Australia. In contrast, illegal parking was the most reported issue in New South Wales, Queensland and Tasmania, while abandoned shopping trolleys dominated reports in the ACT and Western Australia.
Within Victoria, illegal dumping was followed by illegal parking, abandoned shopping trolleys, graffiti and overgrown vegetation. Reports of graffiti and noise pollution surged sharply, rising by almost 25 per cent over the past year.
Inner Melbourne recorded the highest number of reports, followed by the city’s western suburbs and the south-east.
The financial impact of the problem is significant. Victorians are collectively paying around $30 million each year for the removal of illegally dumped rubbish, with councils warning they are struggling to keep up.
Melton City Council alone collects about 6,000 tonnes of illegally dumped waste annually — the equivalent of 200 truckloads — at a cost exceeding $3 million a year.
Snap Send Solve chief executive Danny Gorog said the figures showed residents were increasingly taking responsibility for their local areas.
“Australians are stepping up. More people are choosing to take responsibility for the places they live, and the numbers show they want issues solved quickly and transparently,” Mr Gorog said.
He said the app simplified the reporting process by allowing users to take a photo, submit a geo-tagged report and automatically notify the relevant authority, reducing pressure on council call centres and speeding up clean-up times.
The surge in illegal dumping has also renewed debate around council waste levies. While the levies are collected for rubbish services, councils use the funds for a wide range of activities, including street sweeping, drain clearing, graffiti removal, beach cleaning and street tree maintenance.
Despite these efforts, councils warn that without stronger deterrents and enforcement, illegal dumping will continue to worsen, leaving communities to bear both the environmental and financial cost.
