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Australia's National Trust and Heritage Victoria, both organizations committed to conserving the country's heritage, are in favor of protecting graffiti as an art form. However, other local council groups say this would give way to more vandalism. Scott Hilditch, chief executive of Graffiti Hurts Australia, says that protecting graffiti would effectively condone acts of vandalism and cost the Australian government over $260 million (U.S. $250 million) a year to clean up. 

Some artists oppose the idea as well, protesting that it is contrary to the spirit of the art form itself. Melbourne curator and artist Andrew Mac says it would interfere with the natural process of street art: "The work is ephemeral. It's not meant to last. It lasts purely as long as the weather and other graffiti artists allow it to last." Mac also feels that the councils backing protection may have real estate motives in mind, such as promoting graffiti sites to fuel tourism. 

The National Trust's cultural heritage manager, Tracey Avery, is reassuring local councils that if Melbourne's graffiti does win heritage protection, it will not become a blanket listing for all street art, but rather tied to identified sites.

"We recognize that it may not be possible to list graffiti for the long-term because of its ephemeral nature," she said. "So it may be that the best thing to do is take proper records of it and interview artists and take public comments."