1. Are you aware of the current inequities in transport concession availability.
2. Do support these inequities?
3. What will you do to ensure equitable transport concessions if elected at the next election?

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Transport alliance highlights bias in Government spending
by Alan Kirkland
March 2003

An alliance of over 80 community-based organisations launched a call for greater equity in transport concession fares at Parliament House on Monday 24 February. The current system of government subsidies for concession fares is biased in favour of inner Sydney and the eastern suburbs because it provides greater subsidies for public transport than for private buses.

This means that some people who would receive concessions on public transport receive less assistance if they live in areas serviced by private buses. These groups include people with impaired vision, apprentices and age and disability pensioners. It seems incongruous that the Government provides a lower level of subsidy to transport for people on low incomes on private buses when many disadvantaged areas are only serviced by private operators.

The information released on 24 February also sought to draw attention to the plight of people on very low incomes who miss out on concession fares on both public and private transport. Unemployed people, for example, miss out on concessions if they are receiving less than the maximum rate of payment. This cuts out people such as:

• unemployed people under the age of 21 whose parents combined income is $27,400;
• people who have been breached by Centrelink; and
• unemployed people whose allowance is reduced due to part-time work.

The Government recognised that there were problems with this system when it announced a review of transport concessions in 1999 but some 4 years later this review is yet to be released or acted upon. The Opposition is yet to announce its full transport policy but indications are that it is more likely to give further concessions to self-funded retirees than it is to extend concessions to people on low incomes.

A number of organisations have been active in the campaign for reform of concessions, particularly Western Sydney Community Forum, the Youth Action and Policy Association, the Welfare Rights Centre, the Combined Pensioners and Superannuants Association, Burnside and the Central Coast Community Council. This coalition is determined to continue to push for a more rational and fair approach to concessions beyond the State election.

This article was originaly published in NCOSS News (March 2003) - the NCOSS newsletter for NCOSS members. You can subscribe to NCOSS News by becoming a member [membership info]