On Manreet Malhi's first day of training to be a parking inspector in Canberra, he had to jump out of the way of someone driving at him.
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The acting manager at ACT Parking Operations said it was an "eye-opener" on day one.
"This gentleman probably would have had a negative interaction with a parking inspector in the past and had obviously seen me in my uniform. That obviously did not go well with him and he tried to attack me with his vehicle. But luckily there was no harm done," he said.
Mr Malhi said he did not experience abuse or violence every day patrolling Canberra's parking areas, but it did happen at least twice a month.
Access Canberra Belconnen service centre manager Anthony Lees said the number of incidents had picked up during the COVID-19 lockdown period but had never properly abated.
"Even though everything's really opened up, so you kind of expect it to drop off once everything is back to normal, but it hasn't really happened in that way," Mr Lees said.
Mr Lees said he hoped pushing the message to the public would have a positive impact.
Chief Minister Andrew Barr joined Mr Malhi and Mr Lees to announce the start of a government advertising campaign to highlight the impact of workplace violence on front-line government workers.
Access Canberra had recorded about 113 workplace violence incidents in the last year, he said.
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"We're conscious that there is a challenge. We want to take this opportunity through a major advertising campaign to remind the community to respect the staff who are working for them," Mr Barr said.
"Whilst we're particularly focusing on the ACT public sector here, these issues, I acknowledge, extend to nearly all of the service industries in the ACT. And really, they also deserve respect in their work."
Mr Barr said the campaign would cost "several hundred thousand dollars" and the material could be reactivated in the future if there are particular incidents or concerns.
The ACT government said bus drivers, government shopfront workers and parking inspectors had all been subject to verbal abuse, while teachers had been harassed only by students and their parents.
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Jasper Lindell
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
Jasper Lindell joined The Canberra Times in 2018. He is a Legislative Assembly reporter, covering ACT politics and government. He also writes about development, transport, heritage, local history, literature and the arts, as well as contributing to the Times' Panorama magazine. He was previously a Sunday Canberra Times reporter.
