PRAM PARKING: We Found Out If The 'Rules' Are Actually Enforced

Should shopping centres get involved?

It's been a recently brought up feud across our social media pages after a Queensland woman revealed to the Hit Network that she always will use a pram park, even though she doesn't have kids.

Lisa, from QLD's Mirani revealed to the Hit Network this week that pram parks were for 'anyone', sparking a surprised reaction from radio hosts Sam & Rach.

"I park there," she said after explaining that at her local shopping centre, the pram parking is closer to the entrance than the disabled parking.

"I was annoyed that the people with prams and babies were closer, so I thought 'Fine, if they're going to put disabled people at the back, I'm parking there.'"

The caller also revealed that when she asked the shopping centre staff about it, they told her that pram parks were for 'anyone'.

Listen to the story below:

The comments caused a bit of outrage on social media between people who couldn't agree on whether the rules are up to the customers or up to the shopping centre to enforce.

We reached out to a few major shopping centres in Australia in order to find out.

Fiona Mackenzie, the General Manager of Chadstone shopping centre in Victoria revealed that the pram parking policy relies on customers to do the right thing.

“We have more than 10,000 free parking spaces available at Chadstone – The Fashion Capital, including 65 spaces dedicated to parents or carers with prams," she said

"These are located across five of our parking precincts, to help ensure convenient access to the centre.

"Our parking and security teams manage our car park 24 hours a day, however these spaces are offered as a courtesy by Chadstone and rely on other customers to do the right thing.

"As always, anyone who needs extra assistance while visiting Chadstone can contact our Centre Management team directly on (03) 9563 3355.”

NRMA backed this point revealing on their website that "parents with prams parking spots are offered by private car park operators to parents as a courtesy and NSW law does not provide for their enforcement."

So, while parents may feel outraged when a non-parent or person without a child with them parks in a 'pram spot', it seems they can't really do anything about it.

Do you think shopping centres should do more to enforce pram-only parking? Or should it be left up to the public? Let us know in the comments!