SHANE Rattenbury says a raft of transport regulation improvements were passed in the Legislative Assembly today, including a new law to prevent private car park operators from accessing private information held by the Government.

“The ACT Government is aware of a commercial car park operator attempting to use court discovery processes to obtain the private details of Canberra drivers from Government registration records,” Shane said.

“This approach mirrors that of car parking operators in other states, where road transport authorities were forced to hand over the details of thousands of registered vehicle owners. In those states car park operators then used the details to contact drivers it said had overstayed and demand payment.

“It is not appropriate for commercial operators to set up a business that relies on Government disclosure of citizens’ private details, particularly when there are other business models available. Car parking operators can use boom gates, or Government inspectors can conduct enforcement in the car parks for them.

“The community has an expectation that the Government will protect its private information and ensure that it is not shared and exploited by private entities.

“Nor do we want to see the situation that occurred in other States where car park operators conducted unscrupulous business practices to mislead consumers and to obtain payments from them.

“Today’s amendment is an important measure to protect consumers and protect ACT residents’ privacy,” said Mr Rattenbury.

“The Road Transport Legislation Amendment Bill also introduced several other new laws – including banning the drinking of alcohol while driving, and introducing new offences for dangerous driving behaviours such as drifting and handbrake turns.

“This package of changes is consistent with the Government’s efforts to reduce the number of deaths and life-changing crashes on our roads and improve road safety for all Canberrans,” Mr Rattenbury concluded.