NSW Government Parking Summit

By Stuart Norman, CEO Parking Australia

The NSW Government has announced that they will be holding a Parking Summit on Monday 17 May. It will be opened by the Minister for Digital and Minister for Customer Service, the Hon. Victor Dominello and the Minister for Transport and Roads, the Hon. Andrew Constance. Parking Australia has been invited to attend, as have some from the parking industry.

Unfortunately, it seems that invitations have not been sent to everyone in the parking industry. As such, I’d encourage you to contact Service NSW and see if you can attend.

The summit states that, “It will explore ways that the NSW Government and private industry can work together to solve customer pain points, and transform parking to ensure a seamless end-to-end journey, including connection to public transport.”

At this stage Parking Australia have not been asked to present, however we have asked if they’d like Parking Australia’s assistance in engaging with the parking industry.

An agenda for the summit is yet to be released, but Parking Australia have not been approached, as yet, to participate in any of the sessions.

In addition to the summit, the Government have also launched public consultation on parking issues via an online survey until 28 April – click here for details.

Parking Australia in Canberra

Parking Australia has held discussions with the Federal Government on a number of matters in recent months. We have again lobbied to reform Fringe Benefits Tax (FBT) on car parking, in addition to the roll out of commuter car parks and the Accredited Operator Scheme (AOS).

This is not the first time PA has advocated for changes to FBT on parking but this time we presented a more refined position, stating that relief should be offered to businesses who can demonstrate that a car space benefits more than one individual. We stated that this would not increase congestion, as only one car can park in a space at a time, but it would benefit businesses to distribute its car parking spaces more efficiently to as many staff as possible.

Unfortunately, I am not overly confident that the treasurer will make any such announcement when he delivers the 2021-22 Federal Budget in May.