The ACT government will crack down on the misuse of mobility parking permits, a sign of a broader clampdown on the exploitation of vulnerable Canberrans.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr announced in Tuesday's budget the government would bump up the penalty for people found to be misusing a permit to park in disability spots and flagged tighter monitoring of the concession.
"There is a lot of anecdotal evidence these permits are not being used appropriately and that they are being traded and passed around and there are people who really shouldn't be utilising those permits who are doing so," Mr Barr said.
"Part of our work here is to ensure there's greater compliance around the issuing of those permits because I think we'd all agree ensuring integrity around the use of those permits in limited disabled parking spots should be of concern to the community, is of concern to the community and the government will be be responding. If you are using a disability park and you're not entitled to, you are breaking the law."
Related Content
It's one of a raft of measures in the budget which will stop rorters in the ACT's community and welfare sector.
The Working With Vulnerable People scheme will be reviewed in 2017-18 before undergoing an expansion to the tune of $1.6 million.
A new Office of the Senior Practitioner will be set up to protect the rights of people with disabilities and a disability justice strategy will be developed to make sure disabled people are equal before the law.
More money will be also be available to support Canberrans in need.
An additional $540,000 will be poured into the National Disability Insurance Scheme this financial year.
There will be an extra $30 million for public housing renewal in 2017-18.
About $350,000 in 2017-18 has been earmarked to plan and design a second home for older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and another Common Ground Facility.
Homelessness services in Canberra will also receive an extra half a million dollars in the coming financial year for a homelessness summit.
The money will also go towards extra support for the Uniting Care Early Morning Centre and the development of a system-wide trauma informed approach to homelessness.
Canberrans who find themselves afoul of the law will have increased access to legal representation, with $290,000 extra funding for Legal Aid this financial year.
There will be extra support for victims of family violence, with the government to pilot a Family Safety Hub to coordinate service delivery.
Providers like PANDSI will share in $2.6 million in 2017-18 to provide targeted mental health support for new mums. Youth mental health service Headspace will also share in the fund to provide extra support for young people doing it tough.
There'll also be $167,000 extra a year for A Gender Agenda, which helps intersex, transgender and gender diverse people, and $340,000 a year for the Office for LGBTIQ Affairs.
The Canberra Times Assembly team have just been let out of the ACT budget lock-up and are discussing what it means for the city.
Posted by The Canberra Times on Monday, 5 June 2017