ANDREW Barr has announced the upcoming opening of the first ACT Government Access Canberra shopfront on the ground floor of Winyu House, the new ACT Government office building in Gungahlin.

The shopfront will open on Thursday 21 May 2015.

“Establishing Access Canberra presents a great opportunity to trial new service delivery models to help make it as easy as possible for people to interact with the ACT Government,” Andrew said.

“The opening of the first Access Canberra shopfront marks the beginning of a new and streamlined way for the community to do business with the ACT Government. The new shopfront brings together services that were previously provided at separate locations reducing the need for the public to make contact with multiple approval bodies when completing some transactions.

“The new shopfront will feature an open plan layout without barriers between staff and customers. This will allow customers to more easily interact with staff, promoting higher quality conversations and improved service delivery for people completing complex transactions.

“The digital-first shopfront will also enable a range of transactions be completed online using touch screen terminals. It will also operate under a new model in which payments can only be made electronically, using debit or credit card. As a result, transactions will be processed more quickly with wait times reduced.

“One of my priorities as Chief Minister is regulatory reform and red tape reduction. I know the new Access Canberra shopfront will make it easier for Canberra businesses and community groups to continue to do great things in our city.”