NSW Right to Withdraw Court Elections for Penalty Notices

Fines Legislation Amendment Bill 2025

17 Mar 2026: Passed by Parliament and signed off by the governor.

This bill kicks in: TBA

Legislative Assembly

Legislative Council

Assent

Share this bill

Email Facebook X Bluesky

Topics

court fines debt recovery financial hardship penalty notices review rights tax administration

Introduced by: Michael Daley MP (ALP); The Hon Daniel Mookhey MLC (ALP)

Links to official parliament websites

Official page: progress through parliament

Official page: bill text and explanatory notes

Effects of this bill

If this bill passes, it means that:

People can withdraw their request to have a penalty notice dealt with by a court; they must do this in writing within 21 days.
The Commissioner must wait at least 21 days after a person elects for a court hearing before issuing a court attendance notice.
Officers cannot serve penalty reminder notices while a court election is active.
The Commissioner, Chief Commissioner, and Taxation Commissioner must tell individual applicants in writing if they can apply to the Hardship Review Board after a refusal.
The Hardship Review Board must publish annual data on its application success rates and decision types on the Revenue NSW website.

The Debate

What different members said when this bill was debated:

Courtney Houssos ALP

“Scott Farlow, Ms Abigail Boyd, the Hon. Jeremy Buckingham, the Hon. Damien Tudehope, the Hon. Stephen Lawrence and the Hon. Cameron Murphy. I acknowledge those contributions, particularly those of Labor colleagues, who are far more experienced in the law than I am. But this does seem like a practical change.”

Official source →

News articles and press releases

Fines Legislation Amendment Bill 2025

Mr MICHAEL DALEY, Attorney General — 2025-10-22

Specifically, the Fines Legislation Amendment Bill 2025 delivers a 21‑day window to withdraw a court election made under the Fines Act, coupled with enhanced communications to individuals around their rights and responsibilities. Individuals will be sent a letter once they have elected to go to court that clearly states receipt of the election, the right to withdraw the election and the date by which the penalty reminder notice must be complied with should the election be withdrawn.