Service NSW

Hansard ID: HANSARD-1323879322-109158

Hansard session: Fifty-Seventh Parliament, First Session (57-1)

Service NSW

Mr MARK COURE (Oatley) (18:54):

:15 One of this Government's cornerstones is making life easier for the people of New South Wales. The rollout of Service NSW centres across our great State is delivering much‑needed access to Government services in a timely, friendly and helpful manner. With more than 98 per cent of New South Wales residents already being reached by Service NSW centres, we are determined to reach every corner of this State. No matter what part of New South Wales people live in, we want to make sure all residents are able to access the rebates on offer to ease the cost of living.

Service NSW was introduced in 2013 by our Government as a one-stop shop for vital services such as getting a birth certificate, a Seniors Card, a drivers licence, renewing vehicle registration or even getting a fishing licence. I have witnessed firsthand the amazing work of Service NSW at Hurstville and welcome the Minister for Customer Service's election announcement for a new centre over the next four years at Roselands. When I am doorknocking in my electorate, the cost of living is continuously raised as one of the single most important issues facing the people of the St George region. Under the directive of this Government, residents can now access over 70 rebates and incentives, including free vehicle registration, Energy Switch, the $100 Active Kids—which I have used for my children— and Creative Kids vouchers, and much more. As a result, our Government has given back more than $200 million to people across New South Wales over the last year alone.

Recently the Government announced that households that have gas and electricity could save hundreds of dollars on their energy bills with the expansion of our popular Energy Switch service. Many in my electorate of Oatley have taken up this offer. We know energy bills are a significant part of local household budgets and we are doing everything we can to help ease these cost of living pressures. Already 7,000 households across New South Wales have made a switch on their energy bills—identifying close to $3 million in annual savings—since the service was launched in November 2018. The average saving for consumers is over $400. Energy Switch is free, an Australian first service, allowing households to switch electricity providers in minutes with the click of a mouse or a chat with a friendly Service NSW staff member. It works by using a customer's latest energy e-bill to scan every retailer in New South Wales and gives customers the cheapest three electricity plans available. If a switch is requested, Service NSW will inform the energy provider.

Like the current service, Service NSW will do the heavy lifting for the customer by checking their gas usage, searching for available plans and, if savings can be found, it will make the switch for them. This is fantastic. Perhaps one of the most popular rebates in my electorate of Oatley is the Active Kids program. In 2018 families saved more than $54 million on children's sport, fitness, recreation activities and much more. Our Government has made it a priority to reduce childhood overweight and obesity rates in New South Wales. With the Active Kids program almost half of all school-enrolled kids are enjoying the benefits of exercise. Also a huge success has been the introduction of the New South Wales Baby Bundle. Every baby born in New South Wales receives a useful bundle of essential items.

Mr Geoff Provest:

You have used that.

Mr MARK COURE:

As the member for Tweed just mentioned, the Coure family has used the Baby Bundle. It is worth over $300, helping families get off to a great start. In the middle of the night when we ran out of nappies we located the Baby Bundle. There were three nappies in there that we were able to use in an emergency. It has come to our rescue more than once. Our Government wants to support parents from the very beginning. A personal favourite is the New South Wales Government developed FuelCheck app. The free FuelCheck app allows customers to locate the closest, cheapest service station to them.

The app includes a favourite stations function, allowing users to save their favourite petrol stations. A My Trip function utilises Google Maps to enable users to find the cheapest petrol station on their journey and direct them to that station. I look forward to what Minister Dominello has planned in his continued efforts in reducing red tape and paperwork, while also increasing rebates available through Service NSW centres for the benefit of electors in my electorate and across New South Wales.