Aussie ‘cashless’ debate rages after residents rant about major change to parking meters: ‘This should be illegal’

A woman in a wealthy Australian suburb sparked a heated debate about going ‘cashless’ after a major change to the area’s parking stations.

The resident discovered recently updated parking meters in North Sydney exclusively accept digital payments.

‘New parking meters in North Sydney appear NOT to take cash. As such if we are to park in the North Sydney area we need our mobile phone as they do not appear to take cards either,’ the furious woman wrote online.

‘I was under the impression that cash was still a currency in Australia and as North Sydney is a part of Australia, cash should be accepted.

‘It is my belief that this move is illegal and these meters should be removed immediately. Another issue is that they are difficult to identify – they look more like ash trays than parking meters.’

The change is not illegal as a legitimate form of payment is still accepted. 

Australians have re-ignited the debate in recent months after a teenager revealed she had ‘no idea’ what to do with $5 notes and a study revealed people spend more when they use cashless methods of payment.

North Sydney Council decided to go cashless because only one in 26 visitors used cash.

A statement from the council read: ‘Over the past year, the number of people paying with coins for parking has lowered to less than 4 per cent.

‘In addition, malfunctions in our existing parking meters occur primarily due to coin-box vandalism and jams. The removal of coin payments ensures our parking meters’ reliability long-term as it decreases these ongoing maintenance costs.’

Many North Sydney locals criticised the woman’s ire.

‘This system allows you to pay as you park and you can control the time from your phone – it eliminates parking fines where you are frantically running to get back to your car because you didn’t put enough 50c coins in,’ one argued.

‘You’re mad that you have to have your mobile phone on you to pay for parking but you took a photo of this parking meter with your mobile phone,’ another pointed out.

But others saw the issue with requiring mobile phones to pay for parking.

‘Looks like smart phones are now also mandatory to drive a car and use a meter. What if you duck out without your phone? I’m personally okay with not accepting cash, but at least make it tap and go,’ a woman said.

‘Having to download an app to use a parking meter is a bit ridiculous,’ another added. ‘Older folks might not have smart phones or know how to scan a QR code.’