Fair Trading Minister Anthony Roberts joined with State Member for Penrith Stuart Ayres today at the Penrith Fair Trading Centre to inspect the NSW Government’s OneGov direct access service initiative.
Mr Roberts met the dedicated Fair Trading Centre staff working in crucial customer service, mediation, compliance and dispute resolution roles.
“Delivering consistent and effective government services is a priority for the NSW Government,” he said.
“During the OneGov trial people can visit the Penrith Fair Trading Centre to apply for a birth, marriage or death certificate, apply for a Seniors Card, buy National Parks passes, lodge NSW Housing applications, apply for and renew NSW Fisheries licences and receive general information and referrals to a range of other NSW Government services.”
Mr Ayres welcomed the OneGov pilot saying it was a win for the people of Western Sydney.
“OneGov has been designed with customers in mind and represents improved access to NSW Government services by providing a single point of contact for the community,” he said.
“The Penrith Fair Trading Centre provides a valuable service to the Western Sydney community so it is a fitting location for this trial.
\”This is another example of how the O’Farrell Government responds to the needs of Western Sydney and the delivery of this election commitment demonstrates we won’t be taking them for granted,” Mr Ayres said.
Annually, the Penrith Fair Trading Centre answers more than 3,000 enquiries, responds to 4,000 consumer complaints and processes more than 4,500 business registration and association transactions and 3,200 other transactions including owner builder permits, building licences and rental bonds.
Mr Roberts and Mr Ayres also visited the Penrith Consumer, Trader and Tenancy Tribunal (CTTT) which manages a geographical area covering from Blacktown to Penrith, the Blue Mountains and beyond to Bathurst and Orange.
The Penrith Registry is one of the Tribunal’s largest, processing 12 per cent of the CTTT’s overall workload.
During 2010/2011 the Registry received 6,727 applications and held 6,761 hearings and received more than 9,300 telephone enquiries.
Minister Roberts said Fair Trading leads the NSW Pubic sector in delivering quality customer service and prides itself on the range of services it provides.
“Fair Trading already successfully hosts the Government Contact Centre, a single, tollfree telephone number, for people to access all government services and information across NSW,” he said.
“OneGov is a one-stop-shop designed to support today’s busy customer with varying needs.
“The whole community stands to benefit from OneGov and I look forward to watching Fair Trading deliver a first rate service during the trial.”
