Local Government
3. Local Government Fines
Authors: Staff Legal Eagle
Firm / Chambers:
Last updated: 15 Aug 2015
- Local government bodies are in charge of issuing fines including:
- parking fines;
- fines for breach of local laws; and
- fines for littering.
- If you have received a fine you may be able to have the fine reviewed and possibly removed. This is known as an internal review.
- You will have to establish one of the following circumstances:
- The infringement notice was issued incorrectly (you do not believe you committed an offence). For example the fine may have been given to the wrong person or car.
- There were ‘exceptional circumstances’ for example a medical emergency or your car broke down.
- The ticket machine was broken.
- You are unable to either understand or control the behaviour that led to you receiving a fine because:
- you are mentally disabled or mentally ill;
- you have a serious drug or substance abuse problem; or
- you are homeless.
- For example you couldn’t understand that you weren’t allowed to park in a special area because you are mentally disabled.
- Local government will not generally withdraw a fine for the following reasons:
- you forgot to re-feed a parking meter;
- you were running late in getting back to your car;
- you are new to the area or unfamiliar with a particular rule;
- you did not see or you misread a sign;
- you ran out of petrol; or
- you did not display your permit or registration sticker correctly.
- If you receive a fine and want it reviewed generally only the registered owner of the car can make the application.
- If you are not the registered owner of the car you will have to supply documents signed by the owner of the car that state that you were the driver of the vehicle.
- You will also need to attach evidence to support your exceptional circumstances such as:
- if you went to hospital you will need to provide a letter from your doctor that states what happened on the day you breached the road rules;
- if your car broke down you will need to provide an invoice for roadside assistance or towing; or
- if you have a mental health problem you will need to provide a letter from your psychologist or psychiatrist that states what your problem is and how it affected your judgement on the day you breached the road rules.
- The local government body may request further information from you.
- You will receive a decision in writing. This may take up to 90 days depending on your local government body.
- If the fine is not withdrawn the decision will specify a new due date for the payment of the fine.
- You can ask to pay the fine in instalments rather than upfront.
- You can also apply to have the fine reviewed in the Magistrates’ Court instead of an internal review. You need to apply to the local government body that issued the fine in writing to have the matter reviewed in the Magistrates’ Court.
- The information above uses parking fines as an example but is generally applicable to all types of local government fines.
- Other fines which may be issued by the local government include fines for:
- abandoned unregistered vehicles parked on the side of the road;
- unfenced swimming pools;
- impounded or incorrectly kept animals;
- unauthorised environmental actions such as clearing native vegetation on your property without a permit;
- littering; and
- many more.
- It is a very bad idea to ignore a local government fine and hope it will go away.
- In NSW for example if you are given a fine by a local council and you fail to pay it or request it to be formally reviewed within the time allowed that fine will be passed to the State Debt Recovery Office (SDRO).
- The SDRO will send you a number of reminders and the amount of the fine will increase with each reminder.
- If you continue to fail to pay the fine the SDRO has the power to cancel your driver’s licence even if the fine had nothing to do with driving.
- If the fine remains unpaid after your driver’s licence is cancelled then the SDRO are likely to send the sheriff to seize and sell your possessions in order to pay the fine.
- If you are unsure about how to proceed our free Find a Lawyer directory may help put you in touch with the assistance you need.
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