Bookable appointments are now available at all Access Canberra service centres. Photo: ACT Government.
Access Canberra’s bookable appointments program has been expanded across all its service centres, but the community’s been assured walk-ins will still be an option.
Bookable appointments first began at the Dickson centre in October, 2022. Following its successful rollout, the option has been extended to the Belconnen, Gungahlin, Woden and Tuggeranong centres.
Business and Better Regulation Minister Tara Cheyne said wait times at Access Canberra centres averaged seven minutes in the past financial year, but this provided an option for people to know exactly when they would be seen.
“This has been helping people with a time that suits them, and it especially suits people who might need additional support or where there might be some additional complexity of their [issue or question],” she said.
“We’ve had 18 appointments a day which has translated to 90 a week at Dickson, and the model has proved … extraordinarily successful with almost all appointments entirely filled each week.
“Booking more of these complex transactions has also assisted with wait times across all centres.”
Twenty-one bookable appointments will now be available each day at the Belconnen, Gungahlin, Woden and Tuggeranong centres.
Dickson will increase its capacity from 18 to 42 bookable appointments.
Within 30 minutes of expanded appointments becoming available across all centres on Monday (24 July), 18 had been filled.
Access Canberra executive branch manager Emily Springett said the appointments could especially be utilised by people who needed extra support because arrangements could then be made, such as creating a low-sensory environment or organising a translator for someone who spoke English as a second language.
“So it’s able to provide that additional support at the time that suits customers,” she said.
Dickson will remain an appointment-only service centre due to constraints around parking and its size.
Access Canberra deputy director-general David Pryce said additional accessibility options were being considered for the centre.
“[Dickson] provides a better environment for people with other needs … it’s a more controlled environment,” he said.
“It also services some other elements of Access Canberra like land titles, and again bookable appointments work very well in that domain.”
Access Canberra’s bookable appointments are available Monday to Friday between 9 am and 4:40 pm, and can be booked online or by calling 13 22 81.
Some transactions, such as those which require a photo (including a driver’s licence or working with vulnerable people card) or to arrange new number plates, still need to be completed by visiting an Access Canberra service centre in person.
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