11/28/2009 - Brian Wilkins, NSW Taxi Council President
Key aspects of the revised reform package that apply to the Sydney Metropolitan Transport District are:

* Adoption of a requirement that the Director-General use measures of demand, likely growth for taxi services and industry performance measures in deciding on an annual basis, the ongoing sustainable number of new unrestricted taxi licences to be issued (after the transitional period to July 2010);

* New licences issued in Sydney will be leased licences only, renewable annually for 10 years. No further licences will be sold by the Government in Sydney;

* New licences will be issued through public auction or sealed tender at a fee that establishes the true competitive market price for these leased licences;

* The Director-General will be able to restrict the number of licences issued to individuals or related entities and will be able to determine whether some licences will only be issued to current taxi drivers (provided they have operator accreditation);

* Grandfathering rights have been given to existing licence holders with licences able to be transferred and sold on the open market;

* A transitional period to allow 100 new licences to be released in the Sydney Transport District prior to July 2010;

* The number to be released in each financial year thereafter will be determined by the Director General and announced in March each year.

The current reform package will not have any immediate impact on the issue of new licences in areas outside the Metropolitan Transport District. However, once the reforms have been introduced to the Metropolitan Transport District, it is the intention that similar reforms, tailored for Country and other urban areas will be introduced. Such reforms will further underpin the stability and financial surety in these areas.

Clearly the revised reform package has resolved the two fundamental concerns with the original proposal which involved the potential release of unlimited numbers of licences, irrespective of demand, at a lease rate fixed by the government.