New Rules for Ticketless Parking Fines and Proof of Offence
Fines Amendment (Parking Fines) Bill 2024
Legislative Council
Legislative Assembly
Assent
Introduced by: Michael Daley MP (ALP); The Hon Courtney Houssos MLC (ALP)
Links to official parliament websites
Effects of this bill
If this bill passes, it means that:
The Debate
What different members said when this bill was debated:
Eleni Petinos LIB
“On behalf of the Opposition, I speak in debate on the Fines Amendment (Parking Fines) Bill 2024. The Opposition will support this bill, which amends the Fines Act 1996 to improve the transparency and fairness of the parking fine system by ensuring that drivers receive on‑the‑spot notifications of parking fines.”
Julia Finn ALP
“The Fines Amendment (Parking Fines) Bill 2024 makes amendments to the Fines Act to improve the transparency and fairness of the parking fines system. The bill ensures drivers receive on-the-spot notifications for parking fines instead of ticketless fines, of which they are notified by mail. The former Government introduced the ticketless parking fine system, known as print and post, in May 2020.”
Liza Butler ALP
“The Fines Amendment (Parking Fines) Bill 2024 makes a number of much-needed amendments to the Fines Act 1996 to strengthen the transparency and fairness of the parking fine system. Why is this an issue? When the former Government introduced the ticketless parking fine system in 2020, it allowed councils to issue parking fines without first giving drivers an immediate notification.”
“I make a contribution to debate on this timely and important legislation, which seeks to reintroduce fairness to a system that is causing significant frustration among drivers and community members—and understandably so.”
Edmond Atalla ALP
“I make a brief contribution in support of the Fines Amendment (Parking Fines) Bill 2024. The bill reaffirms this Government’s commitment to fairness, transparency and a parking fines system that reflects community expectations for New South Wales.”
Kylie Wilkinson ALP
“The Fines Amendment (Parking Fines) Bill 2024 is an integral piece of legislation that is designed to reform the current parking fines system in New South Wales. The bill follows years of a hodgepodge approach to notifications for parking fines in the State and firmly establishes that there needs to be notification of a fine left on a vehicle.”
Donna Davis ALP
“I make a brief contribution in support of the Fines Amendment (Parking Fines) Bill 2024, which is designed to ensure improved and more efficient outcomes in managing parking fines. The obligations and compliance measures built into the reform allow for a transparent and equitable system that promotes behavioural change through clear messaging and timely notifications.”
Jenny Leong GRN
“I indicate that The Greens will support the Fines Amendment (Parking Fines) Bill 2024. We agree absolutely with the Government that local councils should be required to issue on-the-spot notifications to drivers when issuing parking fines unless it is concerning or unsafe for them to do so.”
Liesl Tesch ALP
“I contribute to debate on the Fines Amendment (Parking Fines) Bill 2024. No‑one likes getting a parking fine. But what is worse is finding out about it two weeks later—sometimes after unknowingly incurring multiple tickets. That is the reality drivers across New South Wales have faced since the previous Government introduced ticketless parking fines in 2020.”
Wendy Tuckerman LIB
“The Fines Amendment (Parking Fines) Bill 2024 responds to concerns from members of the public who have received parking fines sometime after an alleged offence was committed. The concern about any fine received sometime after an alleged offence is easily understandable, whether it is a parking fine, a speeding fine or any other kind of fine.”
Lynda Voltz ALP
“I contribute to debate on the Fines Amendment (Parking Fines) Bill 2024. I was pleased to hear members on the other side of the Chamber join with and herald the unions. It is a pity that when they were in government they did not heed what the union movement had been saying and implement any changes of their own.”
Greg Warren ALP
“I am sincerely delighted to make a brief contribution to debate on the Fines Amendment (Parking Fines) Bill 2024.”
David Mehan ALP
“The bill introduces practical reforms to the current parking fine system to create a fairer and more accountable process that meets community expectations in New South Wales. We need to ensure that people are immediately notified of a parking offence. If they do not get that notification, there needs to be a good reason for why they did not receive it.”
News articles and press releases
Fines Amendment (Parking Fines) Bill 2024
The Hon. COURTNEY HOUSSOS, Minister for Finance — 2024-09-26
In summary, the bill’s proposed amendments will require authorised officers of local councils and other issuing authorities to attach an on-the-spot notification of a fine on the offending vehicle, except in certain limited circumstances where it is unsafe to attach a notification, or the vehicle is parked in a prescribed parking zone, or the vehicle is not stationary, or the regulations permit a notification not to be attached. It will require authorised officers, should they rely on an exception, to make a record of why a notification was not left and why the officer concluded that the exception applied in the circumstances. They must then provide that reasoning to Revenue NSW or the driver upon request. It will require issuing agencies to report on and publish the reasons why notifications were not left and on the use of exceptions.