Yass RMS closure denied

SERVICE NSW has denied predictions that Yass Valley motorists will soon be forced to drive to Goulburn or Queanbeyan to renew their licence and vehicle registrations.

With the grand opening of the new all-inclusive Goulburn Service NSW Centre on Friday, the question remained what would happen to the local RMS service and its employees.

A spokesperson told Scoop the Yass service would not be merged into Goulburn’s new centre.

“Service NSW is committed to a point of presence for Yass which will expand the services beyond what’s currently available to the local community through the existing Motor Registry,” she said.

While they were still looking at the design of the network, the Yass registry would remain open.

“Work on Yass is not due to take place until later in the Service NSW program and once the service is designed, further information will be provided to the community,” she told Scoop.

“Until such time, the motor registry will continue to operate as normal.

“Service NSW will continue to keep staff, the community and customers updated as the network rolls out.”

The new Service NSW Centre in Goulburn was officially opened on Friday by Member for Goulburn Pru Goward and Minister for Finance, Services and Property, Dominic Perrottet.

The network of one-stop shops aims to centralise many state government services into the one location and also boost its online service reach for NSW customers, particularly in rural and regional NSW.

Service NSW will provide access to more than 800 transactions including all those conducted at a motor registry as well as other services such as applying for a birth certificate, obtaining an owner builder’s permit, housing payments and applying for a seniors card.

Ms Goward said the benefits of the centre would go beyond a centralised location for these services.

“Locals will welcome the centre as a game-changer in terms of how transactions with government are done,” she said.

“This is all about convenience and efficiency for customers. The days of local people having to visit many locations to transact with the NSW Government are about to end.

“These are the sorts of services and options locals have been asking for and we’re pleased to be delivering them.”

More transactions will be available online.

“New initiatives such as LiveChat, more self-serve kiosks and the Service NSW mobile app will also increase convenience for customers,” Mr Perrottet said.

Since its launch in 2013, Service NSW has established 34 service centres across the state.