NSW Government Stupidity Strikes

The Sydney City Council and Revenue NSW stake their cliam for a stupidity award.

https://9now.nine.com.au/a-current-affair/sydney-city-council-fines-disabled-aussie-parking-spot-allocated/0038732b-d1b2-417a-b584-003a29e880d5

It appears that you don’t need either an eye test or an IQ test to become a parking inspector.

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I noticed in that article you can be fined if your permit is sun damaged. Mine is nearly black… wonder if they wil replace it for free. The holder is falling to bits as well, stupid NSW holders. we had good long lasting ones before the current, cardboard with a bit of clear plastic badly attached so it falls apart within a year and has to be stuck together with sticky tape, and the cardboard stuff cracks and has to be replaced. I’m about to go get another, my third in this current round, I reckon they have gone super cheap on manufacture.

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No surprise there but do you have to pay for a permit in NSW.

You do have to in Qld and no free rego, just 50% off the rego portion on 1 vehicle only.

My wife’s sister and her husband live in NSW and get free rego on 2 vehicles.

When we temporarily moved to NSW in late 2014, my wife had to renew her driver’s licence and it was free for 5 years, and when we returned to Qld, TMR Qld did not charge her to change it to a Qld licence for the remainder of the 5 years.

I had to renew my licence just after we returned and had to pay full price, so I was not happy that I did not renew it early whilst we were living in NSW.

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I can’t remember if I had to pay a fee initially, I think I did, but I was not a pensioner at that point, I was still in work. I havent paid anything since then. Yes free licence and rego for pensioners.

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If the initial permit or less than a 5 year one after the initial one you have to pay a fee, if the 5 year permits then there is no fee for subsequent renewals after the initial Admin fee.

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Current NSW rules state that they are free for concession holders but replacement permits are $7 for concession holders as of 01.04.2021.

Perhaps they were free prior to then?

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The same applies to numberplates. If they are damaged (impacted or sun), then one can be fined as the vehicle isn’t easily identifiable. For numberplates and from memory, the vehicle owner is responsible (inc. costs) for replacement plates.

I imagine if they were only placed on display when parking, they should last a very long time. Leaving them permanently attached to the dashboard/windscreen will expose them to a lot of sunlight and premature ageing.

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I don’t know if they were free or not. If you just get one in the normal course of events (expiring permit) they remain free but to replace a damaged one, $7 is OK. I don’t mind that, might toddle down on Monday and get a replacement of both the card and the holder.

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Yeah I do that, the holder when taken off and on gets subjected to stresses it otherwise would not… mine is cracked and held tgether with sticky tape. The older model was a solid piece of white plastic with an insert for your permit, and it lasted forever. When I get the replacement on Monday, it will be the fourth time during this 5 yr period.

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Have you looked at a suction cap and hook like used for P and L plate labels? These may be more robust and one only need to hook the permit on when displaying.

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We are supplied with an official holder. If we were permitted alternatives, i would revert to my old one. But we are obligated to use the official one. Or else.

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I would find this hard to believe. I expect the requirement would be to have it effectively displayed (such as on the windscreen) when in use. As long as the attachment device allows this to occur, then the requirement would be met.

A holder may be provided with the permit to remove the inconvenience of one having to source a holder elsewhere.

I would be asking the question next time you speak to the permit issuer.

The NSW government website indicates suction cups can be used…

You can use a suction cup or any other method you prefer to attach the permit to the windscreen or any other surface.

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Despite what we might think, the NSW holder has an official printed layout and specific information. Our mums (NSW Newcastle) is as @SueW advises. Complete with sticky tape holding it together.

And it has never been left on the windscreen other than for a once a fortnight shop.

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That is a convenience, but @phb included a hot link to the NSW formal text. For complete clarity he quoted from

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You must display both your NSW Mobility Parking Scheme permit (which looks like a driver licence) and your Australian Disability Parking Permit (large purple card) to get parking concessions.

Apologies if the communication is not as clear as it could be. Especially if one does not have first hand experience with the permits in NSW.

The second item is ‘The Holder’ both @SueW and I are referring to. The credit card sized permit is similar in Qld and NSW.

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Pedantic lot. No such thing in Qld if you have an Australian Parking Permit, and the Australian Parking Permit has no sleeve to insert auch a thing.

Why on earth should anyone need both?

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Apologies if this got muddled, but what I thought was in question was only about the holder, to wit

and not what had to be displayed.

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Agreed. Its a pain in the butt.

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Well, what has to be displayed and “the official one” as I was calling it, are actually the same thing.

Gobsmackingly ridiculous. Better get down for replacement of both, tomorrow.

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Does your Australian Disability Parking Permit have your name on the back of it as well as your NSW permit?

If so, it is ridiculous duplication. And if their excuse is that the NSW permit has your photo on it, then so does your driver’s licence.

I just noticed that mine expired in 2019 so I better get a replacement tomorrow as well.