http://wahousinghub.org.au/display/NEWS/2018/10/18/Victorian+Travel+Passes

Victorian Travel Passes

Shelter WA welcomes a move by the Victorian Government to offer discounted travel passes to those most in need as a model that could be trialled in WA.

A ticketing review found many poor, homeless or people who are disadvantaged are forced to fare evade to get to appointments and access basic services.

Victorian Minister for Housing Martin Foley has begun a 12-month trial of weekly and monthly emergency relief tickets, providing heavily discounted public transport travel to disadvantaged Victorians. The passes will also be available to schools to help them support students at risk of disengaging from education.

Victorian legal help provider, Justice Connect, has been pushing for change.

“One of our Homeless Law clients, Tim, had been using public transport to access medical appointments and accrued over $3000 in fines,” it said in a statement. “It will also have a big impact on the thousands of people our Homeless Law team supports to resolve infringements.”

While the trial is a good start Justice Connect believes more can be done.

“We’ll keep drawing on evidence from our casework, and insights from clients, in seeking for the trial to become permanent. It will also be important for the trial to feature clear, consistent and transparent policies, and for longer passes to be explored for those with particular complexity or hardship, who do not meet the health-based criteria for the existing pass.”

Shelter WA CEO, Ms Michelle Mackenzie said, “Seniors in Perth receive free travel from 9.00am to 3.30pm on weekdays. This is a fantastic initiative. This could be extended to include a trial similar to the one occurring in Victoria.”

Ann-Margaret Walsh, Principal Solicitor at Street Law Centre WA Inc, a Shelter WA Member, said, “Fines and infringements was one of the most common legal issues for our clients last financial year. Infringements for young people are a particularly crucial issue, as they do not have other means of transport and struggle to pay for their tickets to access public transport. This is a great initiative in Victoria and would be fantastic to see in WA too!”