Summary report - National consultations about the harmonisation of disability parking permit schemes in Australia initiative 

The discussion paper noted that more than 100 different permit designs are currently issued by authorities around Australia and that widespread abuse of the system includes illegal use of permits or copies of permits.

To address these issues, the paper proposed two options for a nationally uniform style of permit:

• Option A – a permit that would be affixed to the inside of the windscreen
• Option B – a permit that would be hung from the rear view mirror once the car is parked.

771 comments were made in 83 per cent of submissions and highlighted the following issues:

• permit Option A – fixing it to the windscreen will prevent loss, this design is easier to use by people with upper body mobility issues and this design is not easily transportable if changing vehicles (16 per cent of comments);
• permit Option B – hanging from the rear view mirror once the car is parked will be easier for enforcement officers to see permit, this design is easily transportable if changing vehicles but this design would cause a hazard if displayed while driving (21 per cent of comments);
• the permit should include more individual information e.g. the permit holder’s photo, name and/or date of birth (12 per cent of comments);
• the permit should not include individual information to protect the individual (2 per cent of comments);
• the size of the permit needs to be smaller (5 per cent of comments);
• the permit needs to be resistant to sun damage (3 per cent of comments);
• the expiry date needs to be clear and easy to see and read (5 per cent of comments);
• if NSW retains its current card, this is not consistent with national harmonisation (8 per cent of comments);
• both permit designs should be available (8 per cent of comments); and
• use different colours to distinguish between permanent and temporary permits (5 per cent of comments).

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Overall statements about proposed permit design

The proposed disability parking permit design will be easier to use than my current permit.

The proposed design will make it less likely to lose the permit.

The proposed design will reduce the opportunity for fraud.

There is a need for a common disability parking permit design across Australia.