Parking inspector abuse linked to domestic violence by Melbourne City Council boss

TOWN Hall’s top bureaucrat has linked parking inspector abuse to the domestic violence scourge as he backed its $20,000 dance video campaign.

TOWN Hall’s top bureaucrat has linked the abuse of parking inspectors to the domestic violence scourge.

Melbourne City Council CEO Ben Rimmer said no one liked getting a parking fine, but society had a problem when frontline staff were being assaulted for doing their job.

Mr Rimmer defended a $20,000 ratepayer-funded dance video released earlier this year featuring traffic compliance staff.

“The reason that the parking inspectors had their video was actually because, as a group of people, they are continually harassed on the streets,” he told the Herald Sun.

“People are often abused verbally, every now and again physically. So the idea of trying to communicate to the community that actually that’s not on, is pretty important to us”.

Mr Rimmer said that a society which tolerated violence against public officers just doing their job “is also a society that will sometimes tolerate more domestic violence than it should”.

“And if we’re serious about reducing the impact of domestic violence, which is something I’m very serious about, then I think we also need to look at other forms of violence ... including the abuse of staff,” he said.

“No one likes getting a parking fine — I’ve had my fair share — but the person who’s giving you the ticket is a man or woman just like you or I, they’ve got kids at home — someone’s got to do the job, right?”

City of Melbourne parking officers have reported a total of 71 verbal assaults and 33 physical attacks from January 2013 to now, city council figures show.

About a quarter of the incidents were code 1, meaning that officers needed immediate assistance because they felt physically threatened or were reporting an emergency.

It is understood that many other incidents go unreported.

Former federal MP Phil Cleary, a veteran campaigner against violence towards women, said Mr Rimmer was wrong to link attacks on parking inspectors with domestic violence.

“He should be very passionate about defending the rights of his workers and they should not suffer aggression,” he said.

“But don’t make comparisons between that and violence against women, because the comparisons are not there to be made.”

“When was the last time a parking inspector was killed or bashed? The violence against women is a form of control and the use of power by men, while aggression towards parking inspectors is an expression of frustration.”

Mr Cleary said that about 70 Australian women were killed by their partners annually, and many more suffered other forms of violent abuse.

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