dodgy parking companies get their just deserts

The Victorian Baillieu Government had its first new consumer law triumph with the recent passing of the Fair Trading Act amendments see here . It looks like these rogue car parking companies will finally start becoming accountable for their actions (to a point), as they've been getting away for far too long with the scam of issuing pseudo parking "fines" to vehicles that have overstayed the time limit in parking bays controlled by these private operators.
Instead of actually running a proper parking lot where you need to go past a barrier gate to enter/exit and are aware upfront of what the cost will be, these money grubbing cowboys prefer to let cars enter at will and have their pseudo parking officers issue "fines" to vehicles that have overstayed. And who is to decide what this "fine" will be, and with no accountability or governmental oversight? The parking operator of course, they seem to think they can charge what they like so long as they mention it in the fine print of that massive sign on the lot. Well sorry, but any bush lawyer can tell you that a business's conditions of entry do not override the applicable state laws.
But the real reason these cowboy operators have been able to flourish in this state is because the previous State Government allowed these companies to access the Vicroads database for the purposes of sending people threatening payment demands. Despite all our strict privacy laws, it's almost incomprehensible to think that the State allows outside private entities such access to privileged information. The only other example I'm aware of private companies accessing the Vicroads database are the private franchised public transport companies, but their officers are proscribed Authorised Officers and are governed by appropriate legislation.
While it's not clear in the article whether these companies will still be able to access the Vicroads database, at least the practice of continuously sending out threatening follow up letters will cease once a request has been made for the matter to be heard in court.
And just like the god awful car clamping cowboys that roamed the streets of Melbourne in the early 90s until the Kennett Government killed them off via legislation, hopefully Baillieu is taking the first step to doing the same thing with these guys.