[Greens-Media] Hartland slams government for ignoring disabled in taxi reform

[Adele.Pedder at parliament.vic.gov.au]

Victorian Greens disability spokesperson Colleen Hartland has slammed the 
Victorian government for ignoring the needs of disabled passengers in 
their proposed taxi reform legislation.
“The Taxi Inquiry found that taxi services for people with a disability 
are particularly poor* and made a series of recommendations on how to fix 
it” said Colleen Hartland.
“The Liberal government has ignored the Inquiry’s findings and has failed 
people with a disability.”
“The Taxi Industry Inquiry found taxi users with a disability experience 
poor and unreliable taxi services more frequently and with more serious 
consequences than other users. People with a disability reported 
unacceptably long waiting times for Wheelchair Accessible Taxis, poorly 
trained drivers and limited scope in the taxi market to cater for 
customers’ special needs.”
“The Government should be ashamed as it has done little to address these 
issues.”
“The legislation fails those with a disability. Unless the government 
agrees with my proposal for the legislation to go to a committee for a 
review, I will be forced to vote against it” said Ms Hartland. 
For Comment Colleen Hartland 0417 445 845

Recommendations of the Fels Inquiry which relate to passengers with a 
disability include:
·       a major fare restructure, including an increase in the flagfall 
and a reduction in the price per kilometre in the Metropolitan zone (to 
address short fare refusals); 
·       replacement of the ‘Tariff 3’ 50 per cent surcharge on the 
distance rate with a flat fee of between $10 to $15 (to address the issue 
of WATs queuing at Melbourne Airport rather than providing services to 
wheelchair using passengers); 
·       and the simplification of ‘multiple hire’ charging (to support the 
industry in offering more flexible and innovative services)
·       a central Booking Service should be established for the 
Metropolitan zone to provide a more efficient and customer responsive 
booking service for wheelchair customers
·       WAT permit holders should be allowed to affiliate to an Authorised 
Taxi Organisation as well, but should be required to always prioritise WAT 
bookings they receive from the Central Booking Service.
·       The Multi Purpose Taxi Program (MPTP) should be expanded to 
provide the subsidy to individuals aged 80 years or over (subject to a 
means test) who have their private vehicle driving licences suspended by 
VicRoads as a result of a fitness to drive assessment.

Adele Pedder

Electorate Officer
Greens MP Colleen Hartland 
Ph: 9689 6373. Mob: 0422 108 539
colleenhartland.org
75 Victoria Street Seddon 3011
 


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Parliament of Victoria                                                                                                                    . 
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