Gungahlin residents won't be able to use cash to purchase dog licences or register cars at the town centre's long-awaited ACT Government shopfront.
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But they will be spared having to communicate with staff on the other side of security counters and instead be invited to sit down at a desk in an open plan office. Gungahlin's first Canberra Connect shopfront is scheduled to open in early 2015 on the ground floor of the ACT Government's new office block.
Territory and Municipal Services Minister Shane Rattenbury said the shopfront would offer a more pleasant environment, particularly for staff and customers discussing more complex matters.
“Most people prefer to be able to have a proper conversation rather than talk to someone across a glass barrier," he said.
Eliminating cash transacations had enabled the government to go ahead with planning for a shopfront with open-plan desks and low counters.
Mr Rattenbury said people who wanted to pay by cash would still be able to do so at the post office or at other government shopfronts.
Going cashless was expected to speed up transactions and reduce waiting times.
Medicare Australia has already stopped using cash to pay claims.
An open-plan customer service centre was already working well at ACT Housing's Belconnen office, Mr Rattenbury said.
There are currently no plans to eliminate cash transactions at other government shopfronts.
