On Friday, 9 March 2024, the Minister for Finance Courtney Houssos wrote to 128 councils (including Lane Cove Council), urging them to address shortcomings in their ticketless parking fine approach.
Currently, Lane Cove Council and 47 other councils issue ticketless fines for on-street parking infringements. Lane Cove Council has stopped issuing physical infringement notices.
The Minister will also stop new councils from signing up to the system, pointing to community concerns about the ticketless system, particularly around the timeliness of notifications to drivers.
The ticketless fine system began as a trial in May 2020 by the former Liberal-National Government and was expanded to more councils in December 2020.
Lane Cove Council uses the ticketless parking infringement system for on-street parking infringements and was among the top 15 Councils that used ticketless parking infringement notices to generate revenue from parking fines in 2023.
It allows councils to send details of a fine directly to Revenue NSW, which then sends an infringement notice by post or the Service NSW app. In most cases, the driver has no indication that they have received a ticket.
On-the-Spot Notification
Minister Houssos’s letter formally requests councils to provide an on-the-spot, written notification to drivers – for example, a small pre-printed card on their windscreen – when they issue a fine.
This change would ensure drivers know they have been booked by a parking officer upon returning to their car.
It will also ensure they can capture evidence—including photos and details of where they parked—thereby allowing them to seek review of the fine more easily, if necessary.
The key concerns in relation to ticketless parking fines are:
- the difficulty in gathering evidence in the event the driver wants to seek a review of the fine,
- the reduced impact of a fine to act as an immediate deterrent and influence behaviour, and
- that a driver can receive multiple parking infringements before receiving a notification via post or the Service NSW app.
Parking fines issued by local councils make up half of all fines processed by Revenue NSW.
The Minister notes local councils are concerned about the safety of infringement officers who may be subjected to abuse and aggression when issuing tickets.
Officers using a digital device issue infringement notices in person, and they are required to take photos as evidence to include with the posted fine.
The Minister has also written to the 80 councils which do not issue ticketless parking fines, informing them that new councils won’t gain access to the ticketless parking fine system while Revenue NSW undertakes more consultation.
Excerpts from the Minister for Finance Letter to Councils
Below are excerpts from the letter sent by the Minister for Finance Courtney Houssos to councils using the ticketless parking system:
“I believe these common sense changes ensure the parking fine systems function in a fair and transparent way and meets community expectations.
“While there are some benefits to the ticketless system, I am aware of community concerns around the issuing of ticketless parking fines, particularly the timeliness of fine notifications.
“I believe these concerns can be addressed by implementing some simple administrative measures.
“I am requesting your council enhances your parking fine process so that drivers are provided immediate, written notification to drivers at the time they are issued with a parking fine. This is currently not a requirement of the scheme.
“This could be as simple as a note, which could take the form of a standardised, pre-printed card, noting that a fine has been issued.
“This note does not necessarily need to form part of the infringement notice but at a minimum it should inform the driver they will soon receive an infringement notice via post or the Service NSW app.
“Doing so will provide drivers immediate notification that they have been given a parking fine and will allow them to take their own photos and note down relevant details.
“One of the key benefits of the ticketless parking scheme is that it provides drivers with access to photographic evidence of their alleged infringement. This streamlines the review process.
“Whilst currently not a mandatory requirement of the scheme, I am also requesting your council review its processes to ensure photographic evidence is captured and transmitted to Revenue NSW.
“The current implementation of the ticketless parking system has eroded trust in parking fine system. Providing immediate notification to drivers is the right thing to do and is an important first step to restoring community trust in the administration of the fines system.”
What Are the Next Steps?
Lane Cove Council are to advise the Minister of the steps it will take to inform a driver that they have been fined. Below is an extract from the Minister’s letter to Lane Cove Council.
Does This Letter Impact Council Operated Car Parks (like The Canopy and Lane Cove Market Square)?
The letter appears only to relate to on-street parking fines and would not impact the ticketless parking systems used in council-operated car parks (like The Canopy or Lane Cove Market Square). However, this may not be so cut and dry as the press release also refers to NSW state government-owned parking facilities — ITC has sent a media request to the NSW State Government seeking clarification on this point.
Ticketless Parking Background Information
In 2023 The Guardian published a story about the issues with the ticketless parking system. They noted:
“Waverley Council in Sydney’s east is one of the 92 councils in NSW that has not opted into the system. A spokesperson says it decided against it for several reasons, including because the council felt it would be unfair, and drivers were less likely to learn from their mistakes.
“If a motorist does not see an infringement on their vehicle, they will not be aware they have done anything wrong and may continue to offend and incur multiple infringements before they receive the first one in the mail,” the spokesperson says.” Read the full article here.
In 2019 the NSW Government introduced a 10-minute grace period for at least one hour of paid ticketed parking. This means that if you are running late and arrive back at your car a few minutes after the ticket expiry time, you will not receive a fine.
The grace period took effect on Thursday, 31 January 2019. It does not apply to certain areas such as bus lanes, clearways and transit lanes.
The NRMA has been quoted as saying the ticketless system is unfair because infringement notices are issued to motorists weeks after the alleged offence.
Manage Your Fines Online
With your MyServiceNSW account, you can view, pay, or query fines online. Fine records with due dates, amounts owing, and statuses are all in one convenient location.
Managing your fines online is quicker and easier, as your details will be pre-filled. You can securely:
- pay your fine(s)
- apply for a payment plan
- request a review
- nominate the person responsible
- view images of the offence
- apply to go to court.
Find out more here.
Help Support Local and Independent News
You can support us in three ways:
- Become an ITC reader sponsor – If you have enjoyed our local news coverage, please consider becoming an ITC reader sponsor. You can sponsor us with a monthly sponsorship fee. We have reader sponsors who support us for $5.00 a month and some who invest $100 a year – no amount is too small or too big. Thank you so much to those who supported us via our press Patreon account. Help Us Here.
- Buy the ITC team a coffee – We now have a team, and they need to be paid – by the ITC team a coffee (or two) that will help us pay their wages. Buy a Coffee here.
- If you own a Lane Cove Business or a Lane Cove resident who owns a business, you can advertise with ITC. Please email us here for our raise card.
, urging them to address shortcomings in their ticketless parking fine approach.){kind=link}