Posted on 06/09/2018
Directorate: Education
Issue: The caller rang regarding access to ACT schools for NSW Children with a disability. The caller has a child who is disabled and is going to a pathway school however as the caller is from NSW the child cannot get access to the learning support unit.
OUTCOME: Staff from Minister Berry’s office and the Education Directorate have been in contact with the caller on a number of occasions to resolve the situation she has raised.
Directorate: Access Canberra
Issue: The caller rang regarding parking in Chauvel street and Holmes Crescent in Campbell. The caller said there is an increasing number of cars parking along the street close to the school, leading up to the nature reserve. The amount of cars is blocking the street and making it dangerous for other cars to get through.
OUTCOME: An Access Canberra officer contacted the caller to discuss the parking issues on Chauvel Street and Holmes Crescent in Campbell. The caller advised that vehicles were parking all day on both sides of the road near the School and the John Monash reserve. The caller claimed this behaviour was causing line of sight issues for oncoming traffic. The caller was advised that Parking Operations will conduct an inspection of the area and take any appropriate action. The caller thanked the officer for following up.
Directorate: Access Canberra
Issue: The caller rang regarding a parking fine his daughter received in Barton. The caller’s daughter received a parking fine however there was no sign that indicated it was a no parking area. After she received the fine the sign was replaced with a no-loading zone sign that finished at 6pm. The caller’s daughter was fined at 8:30pm. The callers daughter raised this and was told as she had already paid the fine there was nothing that could be done. The caller also said that his daughter only paid the fine after multiple enquiries and was told that if she did not pay the fine should would have to go to court.
OUTCOME: An Access Canberra officer contacted the caller to seek more details about the infringement notice. It appears that the offence was on Mort Street in Braddon and the infringement was issued by the Licence Plate Recognition (LPR) camera van. The caller was advised that the infringement was $255 because it was issued for disobeying a ‘No Stopping’ sign. There are also loading zones (until 6pm) on each side of the ‘No Stopping’ zone. LPR staff in the vehicle verify signage before issuing an infringement. The caller stated that the signage in the area was inadequate because there were other vehicles parked in the same location. The caller was advised that the other vehicles were also infringed.
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Directorate: TCCS
Issue: On buses. How does the gov propose to staff the 7 day network given their collective agreement is only for 5days. This has been a major sticking point over previous collective agreements?
OUTCOME: A TCCS officer contacted the caller and discussed the current agreement and how it is applied. The outcomes TCCS are looking to achieve with the new seven day network were also discussed.
Directorate: TCCS
Issue: Can the deputy chief minister please explain why the number of speed bumps is blowing out? There are speed limits on all roads. There is no consultation. They are terrible for traffic and car suspension.
OUTCOME: TCCS install speed humps in locations where there is an established history of speed related crashes. The humps are mostly installed low order roads such as collector roads. Affected residents are consulted prior to the installation of speed humps. If speed humps are traversed at a low speed they cause little or no discomfort to drivers and no damage to vehicles.
Directorate: TCCS
Issue: "Deputy Chief Minister, are there plans to widen the Tuggeranong parkway to three lanes in each direction, between Sulwood Drive and the National Arboretum? The frequency of accidents, particularly where the on-ramp from the Cotter Road northbound continues to cause significant delays? Traffic is attempting to merge at 100 kilometers an hour. Is that a recipe for more accidents?"
Response: The Deputy Chief Minister said is does look like it’s becoming an issue and she will get some information and see if we can find out what's going on with that particular part of the parkway.
OUTCOME: Roads ACT will continue to monitor performance during peaks and consider further traffic management measures as appropriate.
Directorate: TCCS
Issue: Deputy CM, why is the ACT Government not using data to inform projects and planning? Surely MyWay data informs bus demand (Curtin) and road use data informs the need for traffic flow control (Monash). The constant rhetoric from Government around public (Text cut off).
OUTCOME: Transport Canberra has used rich data to inform the development of the proposed changes to bus services in 2019. This includes ticketing data showing where customers board and depart from different services, population and land use data showing where people live and work, and specific information relating to schools, such as enrolment data and the boundaries of priority enrolment areas for public schools.
Directorate: JACS – Corrections
Issue: Why can’t ACT have prison gangs that do dirty jobs like cleaning up dead Roos and rubbish or is that politically incorrect?
OUTCOME: The caller was advised of the security classification system that operates at the AMC and the primary focus of community safety. He was further advised of Transitional Release Centre work crews and the Community Service Work crews that operate across the ACT and the types of work undertaken that benefits the community. The caller was interested in the specific areas of work and tasks, and was provided with information about the TCCS locations and work undertaken to assist DUO Home Help. The caller was pleased to hear that reparations work crews occur in the ACT. He suggested that the crews wear identifying overalls so that the community could see them when they are operating.
Directorate: Health
Issue: It is currently World Breastfeeding Week. Why does this important public health issue not get promoted by ACT Government like many others do? When will the 2010-2015 ACT Breastfeeding Strategy be updated?
Action: Please contact the caller.
Outcome: The ACT Government supports breastfeeding as it is an important public health matter. Prior to women giving birth at either the Centenary Hospital for Women and Children or Calvary Public Hospital Bruce, women are provided with information about breastfeeding through written materials and antenatal classes. ACT Health also provides funding to the Australian Breastfeeding Association to deliver education and information services.
Many ACT Directorates and local businesses are Breastfeeding Friendly Workplace Accredited. This accreditation demonstrates an organisation’s commitment to breastfeeding mothers by giving them the time and space they need to breastfeed or express during working hours.
The Australian Government is developing an Enduring Australian National Breastfeeding Strategy. This high level enduring strategy will incorporate recent research on effective strategies to support breastfeeding in Australia, and will be developed in consultation with the States and Territories, other stakeholders and through public consultations. Once the Enduring Australian National Breastfeeding Strategy is finalised, ACT Health will develop an implementation plan for the ACT.
Directorate: ACT Policing
Issue: Hi chief minister, I live in Gordon. Someone burns tyres everyday especially in the mid night. It happens at the round about of Knock Av and Jim Pike Avenue. It's very inconvenient.
OUTCOME: Access Canberra initially contacted the caller and discussed the matter and determined the issues related to burnouts and drag racing that occurs between 11pm and 12am on various nights. The ACTP – CPLO attempted to contact with no avail. If the caller returns the call they will be advised that OIC’s of Traffic Operations and Tuggeranong Station have been advised and proactive patrols of the area will occur where time permits. The caller will also be advised if this behaviour continues the caller is encouraged to contact Crime Stoppers (where they can report information anonymously) or contact police on 131444 or 000 in an emergency.
Directorate: Access Canberra
Issue: Parking between csiro and botanic gardens on clunies ross st is destroying bushland. Has been reported to fix my street but they prioritise cars blocking view of road. This is pushing cars further into bush. Trees grass and shrubs being killed and soil w (text cut off).
OUTCOME: An officer from TCCS contacted the caller. TCCS will discuss this issue further with Parking Operations and liaise with the Australian National University on this matter.
Directorate: JACS- Corrections
Issue: Good morning Minister Berry: do you support moves to facilitate & support illegal drug use & arming inmates with needles in the AMC, whilst looking to ban a legal activity- smoking? Does your government actually care about the welfare of our prison guards.
OUTCOME: ACTCS contact the caller to discuss the benefits of a Needle and Syringe Program within the Corrections environment and reinforced that whilst there is a Government commitment to introduce the NSP this requires the support of staff. If an NSP was to be introduced into the AMC that it would be done very much with safety of all involved in mind, and ACTCS would be taking all steps possible to ensure that the welfare of staff and detainees was the key factor through the implementation.
The Smoke-Free prison concept, the key issue was the caller’s belief that this was linked to the above in why ACTCS would allow needles and illicit drugs in to the centre but then restrict what is a legal product. It was explained the two were very different issues and confirmed that the AMC were one of only two states that have not gone ‘smoke – free’ across Australia and New Zealand.
It was confirmed that smoke free was a government commitment but is a long term project. In order to implement successfully it would require significant planning and lead time deliver, and that whilst ACTCS were focussed on reducing the impacts of smoking within the AMC, work had not commenced on implementing a smoke free environment.
The caller was reassured that staff and detainee safety was paramount in the AMC from both ACTCS and a Government perspective.
Directorate: JACS
Issue: The proposed changes to the Clubs' community consultation scheme make no sense and pose a real threat to the viability of small community groups who don't have the skills or capacity to lodge grant applications. Can the government guarantee that small gro (Text cut off).
Response: The review of the community contributions scheme it being conducted to consider the effectiveness of the current scheme, and how the scheme could be enhanced or improved to deliver the greatest value to the community.
An Options Paper has been drafted by the Justice and Community Safety Directorate to facilitate discussion. The Directorate is keen to hear from stakeholders what is good about this scheme, and the areas in which it might be enhanced or improved.
The Government is yet to make their mind up on this matter. All of the feedback received in the course of the review will be considered by Government to determine the future of the community contributions scheme.
Directorate: EPSD
Issue: The proposed redevelopment of the Curtin shops was refused in February 2017 after an overwhelming response from the community (500+ submissions). The developer has now applied to have this decision reversed. Representations need to be submitted by 17 August.
Action: An officer from EPSDD contacted the correspondent and noted that the due date for public submissions to be lodged was 11 September 2018. However, the new decision date on the reconsideration application is 21 September 2018. The correspondent thanked the officer for this information and noted they also had a concern that the Draft Master Plan was soon to be finalised, but had not yet been finalised. The officer indicated that the Master Plan may or may not be finalised by the public submission due date and if the constituent felt this was a concern it should be raised in any public submission they may wish to make. The correspondent thanked the officer for following up the text with a call.
OUTCOME: : The correspondent will lodge a submission against the reconsideration applicant and raise the Master Plan status as an issue (as well as other concerns).
Directorate: Treasury – Venues
Issue: Good morning DCM, for a couple of years now the large digital info board at Stromlo Forest Park rarely shows correct time. More than 1 hour out today.
OUTCOME: : Stromlo Forest Park staff will continue to monitor the board and to work with our screen provider if the screen shows the incorrect time.
Directorate: CSD – Seniors
Issue: Chief Min: husband is 57 and has just had to retire due to terminal illness. He is still able to do stuff but does not qualify for any "seniors" type discounts. Cheaper transport/movies would be great. Waiting till he turns 61 will not be an option for him.
OUTCOME: The Office for Veterans and Seniors responded via e-mail to provide information on the ACT Assistance Page https://www.assistance.act.gov.au/ and the ACT Health Intake line.