Residents of the Queanbeyan-Palerang Regional Council (QPRC) have been asked their opinion on a possible “cash-free council” continuing post COVID-19.
The Council has been operating as cash-free through its various services since March this year and has now issued a survey on the possibility of making the change permanent.
A Council spokesperson said the measures were originally put in place to protect staff and customers against the spread of COVID-19 and no permanent decision had been made yet.
“While this is currently a temporary change to our business, we are interested in hearing from the community about the impact that a permanent cash-free policy would have,” they said.
“In some cases, staff have accepted small cash payments due to connectivity issues or other matters.
“The survey being undertaken is gathering information from our customers to inform future decisions that may be made in regards to transactions.”
Residents of the QPRC area have until 16 October to participate in the survey, which is available online, via email and by mail.
The Council spokesperson said while it was too early to speculate on the community response, they had already received a number of submissions.
“As at 6 October we have received more than 250 responses from the community,” they said.
“To ensure that we get responses from a wide cross-section of the community, Council has advertised the survey online, via email distribution groups, with advertising in newspapers, provided hard copy surveys at all facilities and has sent a hard copy survey to a random sample of 250 addresses in our name and address register.”
The Council will make a decision once the survey is closed to the public.
“Following the closure of the survey, staff will review the responses and consider the merits of remaining as a cash-free organisation,” they said.
“This review will also consider the demographics of the region and the impacts that a permanent change may have on them, any cost implications (positive and negative) and other matters that have been raised during the engagement period.”
