By Stuart Norman, CEO Parking Australia

After months of suffering from the effects of the pandemic, it has been good to see an increase in car park usage and enforcement around the country. It probably comes as no surprise that people are not returning to public transport in the numbers they once did, and as a result are driving and parking.

By Stuart Norman, CEO Parking Australia

Parking Australia has continued to represent the industry to the federal and state governments, during this pandemic, on a range of issues. While lockdown restrictions differ in each state, there are only a minority of locations where car park usage has recovered to sustainable levels, especially in the larger capital cities.

By Stuart Norman, CEO, Parking Australia

While the media has reported an uplift in traffic on the roads, in most of our capital cities it seems that this has not translated into pre COVID-19 car park occupancy levels. Just before the start of the second wave the Victorian Government reported that traffic levels were only 17% below normal levels, but these figures did not correlate with parking occupancy.

By Stuart Norman, CEO, Parking Australia

Parking Australia is seeking to have meetings with the NSW Government on their parking levy, with the view to assisting operators at this time, when they have been significantly affected. The NSW Treasurer previously announced a deferral of the levy until September, meaning operators will still be required to pay the levy on last year’s occupancy levels, at a time when usage has significantly dropped.

By Stuart Norman, Parking Australia CEO

Parking Australia wrote to the Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg in mid-April, proposing the Federal Government suspend Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) on car parking. Since then, Parking Australia have met with the Treasurer’s office to discuss our proposal.