Major change for parking fines in one state

Ticketless parking fines will soon be banned in NSW after local councils were called out for the unfair system.

Local government will be forced to issue on-the-spot fines, or note to immediately alert drivers who incur a parking fine, instead of posting notification of the penalty in the mail.

NSW Finance Minister Courtney Houssos will introduce legislation to formalise the ban later this month; however, stubborn councils have been put on notice.

Parking rangers will also need to take photos of the offence as proof of the illegal parking act, and the process for challenging fines will be streamlined.

Ms Houssos said this was a win for drivers.

“No one ever likes to get a parking fine, but the idea you only find out about a fine weeks later doesn’t pass the commonsense test,” she said.

“Setting new, higher standards for parking fines, including rules about invalidating unfair fines, is the right thing to do and goes a long way to rebuilding community trust.”

She also thanked the “longstanding advocacy” of the NRMA, which criticised the system when ticketless fines were introduced in 2020.

In return, NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury commended the Labor government for overturning the “increasingly unpopular” system.

“Motorists who abuse the limited public parking spaces available obviously deserve to be fined; however, ticketless parking fines removed transparency and made it almost impossible for motorists to contest their fine if they felt they had a legitimate case,” he said.

The move follows a 49 per cent year-on-year surge in ticketless parking fines being issued in NSW in the 2023-24 financial year as revealed by the state government in August.

Revenue generated from the paperless charges also increased by 54 per cent ($55,141,305) to $158,015,513 in the 2023-24 financial year, with revenue from all fine formats increasing by 14 per cent to $253,606,381.

Thirty of NSW’s 128 local councils said they either had shifted or would shift to an on-the-spot parking fine system; however, some jurisdictions said they wouldn’t change their ways unless forced through legislation.

NSW Premier Chris Minns said drivers deserved better.

“Too many motorists have driven off with no idea they might be liable for a parking fine,” he said.

“This system was introduced by the former government without enough protections for drivers. We’re fixing that.”