Melbourne parking inspectors in the firing line as council reveals HALF have been attacked this year - and their boss compares it to domestic violence

  • City of Melbourne parking inspectors are under attack more than ever
  • Of 86 inspectors employed by the council, 41 have been attacked in 2016
  • That number is more than double the reported incidents from last year 
  • The violence against inspectors has been both physical and verbal

By Josh Hanrahan For Daily Mail Australia

Published: 17:46 EST, 11 October 2016 | Updated: 21:14 EST, 11 October 2016

Their profession has long been despised by the community.

But it seems the popularity of parking inspectors may have hit an all-time low, with the number of personal attacks from fed up motorists rising dramatically.

Close to half of all inspectors in Melbourne's CBD have been attacked in 2016 - double the number of incidents from last year, 3AW reports.

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Close to half of all parking inspectors in Melbourne's CBD say they have been attacked by angry motorists (pictured) in 2016

Close to half of all parking inspectors in Melbourne's CBD say they have been attacked by angry motorists (pictured) in 2016

 The municipality employs 86 parking inspectors, with 41 saying they have been both verbally and physically attacked in 2016

 The municipality employs 86 parking inspectors, with 41 saying they have been both verbally and physically attacked in 2016

The City of Melbourne, the municipality covering the majority of the city's CBD, employs 86 parking inspectors.

Of those, 41 have claim to have been attacked by disgruntled drivers - both verbally and physically - since the start of the year.

Acting City of Melbourne CEO Martin Cutter said they were concerned about the rise.

'The streets are our parking officers’ workplace and it is unacceptable to physically or verbally assault anyone in their workplace, no matter their profession,' Mr Cutter said.

'While we are concerned by the spike in reported assaults in 2016, it should be noted that in the past year there has been a strong focus on encouraging our parking officers to speak up and report assaults.

'We work closely with Victoria Police to ensure all reported physical assaults of our parking officers are investigated.'  

Just last year, the council's CEO Ben Rimmer spoke out about the issue of inspectors being physically attacked and called everything from 'vultures' to 'lowlifes', as depicted in a City of Melbourne video, saying it was on par with domestic violence.

That video took a somewhat lighter look at an attack on an inspector, a necessary step at reducing violence towards frontline staff, he said.

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

A total of 41 inspectors have claim to have been attacked by disgruntled drivers since the start of 2016, double the number from last year

A total of 41 inspectors have claim to have been attacked by disgruntled drivers since the start of 2016, double the number from last year

'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 attacks on inspectors weren't acceptable and should be treated in a similar way to domestic violence. 

 

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