Traffic, Parking and Traffic Camera Fines

Contributed by Anusha Goonetilleke, former Supervising Solicitor of Street Law, a program of Canberra Community Law, and current to 7 June 2021. Further content contributed by John Alati. Reviewed by Lydia Edwards and John Alati, Supervising Solicitor, Street Law.

Infringement notices for parking and traffic camera offences are issued and administered by the Australian Capital Territory Road Transport Authority (RTA) (reg 8(1) Road Transport (Offences) Regulation 2005 (ACT)), while infringement notices for traffic offences are issued and administered by the Australian Federal Police (AFP) (see reg 8(2) Road Transport (Offences) Regulation 2005 (ACT)). However, many of the RTA's functions in relation to infringement notices have been delegated to Access Canberra (see ss 17 and 18 Road Transport (General) Act 1999 (ACT); Road Transport Legislation (Access Canberra) Delegation 2017 (No 1)).

What happens after receiving an infringement notice?

After receiving an infringement notice, you are given 28 days to do one of the following (see s 26(2) Road Transport (General) Act 1999 (ACT)):

• pay the infringement notice penalty in full;
• apply for the infringement notice to be withdrawn;
• make an infringement notice declaration;
• dispute liability for the offence;
• apply to have the infringement notice penalty waived; or
• apply to enter into an infringement notice management plan.

You can deal with your infringement notices by:

• for parking and traffic camera infringement notices, accessingthe traffic and parking infringements section of Access Canberra's website available here: https://www.accesscanberra.act.gov.au/s/article/traffic-and-parking-infringements-tab-overview
• for traffic infringement notices issued by the AFP, accessing the traffic fines section of the AFP's website available here: https://www.police.act.gov.au/road-safety/traffic-fines

If you do not take one of the above options within 28 days, you will receive a reminder notice and be charged a $34 reminder notice penalty (see s 27 Road Transport (General) Act 1999 (ACT), reg 7 Road Transport (Offences) Regulation 2005 (ACT). You will then have another 28 days to take action (see s 28 Road Transport (General) Act 1999 (ACT)).

If, after the additional 28 days is complete, you still have not done anything about the infringement notice, the RTA will send you a notice telling you that your driver licence or vehicle registration will be suspended if you do not pay the infringement notice penalty by the nominated date (see s 44 Road Transport (General) Act 1999 (ACT)).

What if you need more time?

Options for dealing with an infringement notice

Pay the penalty in full

If you pay the infringement notice penalty in full within 28 days, the liability for the offence is discharged, you cannot be prosecuted and you are not taken to have been convicted (see s 39 Road Transport (General) Act 1999 (ACT)).

Apply for the infringement notice to be withdrawn

If you do not dispute that you are liable for an infringement notice, you can apply for the notice to be withdrawn if one or more of the following circumstances applies:

• the infringement notice was issued incorrectly or contains an error (eg the vehicle details are incorrect);
• the infringement notice is the result of administrative or technical reasons outside your control (eg a device maintained by the RTA was malfunctioning);
• there was an emergency medical situation or similar event;
• you have not received an infringement notice or been convicted of an offence under the road transport legislation within 5 years of receiving the infringement notice (only available in relation to some offences);
• the person issued with the infringement notice is deceased or has moved overseas permanently;
• there is insufficient evidence to establish that the offence occurred, or your involvement in the offence;
• a defence or exemption applies to you;
• you disputed liability but the matter was not referred to the Magistrates Court within 60 days;
• you purchased a parking ticket but it was not properly displayed; or
• the vehicle was broken down or immobilised at the time of the offence for parking and stopping offences.

When applying for a withdrawal of an infringement notice, it is important that you do not make any statement denying liability for the offence. Because of a 2005 ACT Supreme Court decision (see Pang v Rawlinson [2005] ACTSC 84), if your withdrawal application contains any statement that is understood by the relevant agency as disputing liability for the offence, the agency that issued the infringement notice is unlikely to treat your application as an application for a withdrawal. Rather, the agency is likely to process your application as though it is a notice disputing liability and so refer the matter directly to the ACT Magistrates Court. Statements that may be interpreted as disputing liability for the offence are ones which indicate that you:

• do not agree with or object to the fine being imposed;
• deny that you committed the offence;
• question the operation or accuracy of a speed or red light camera;
• question the evidence; or
• appeal, contest or dispute the fine.

Administrative review

A person served with an infringement notice or reminder notice for an infringement notice offence may apply to the administering authority for the withdrawal of the infringement notice (s34, Road Transport (General) Act 1999 (ACT). A refusal by Access Canberra to withdraw a traffic infringement notice pursuant to section 34 of the Road Transport (General) Act 1999 (ACT) is a reviewable decision.

The ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal is conferred with jurisdiction to undertake merits review of the decision (section 95 of the RT(G) Act and section 9 of the ACT Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 2008). In undertaking a review of this kind, the Tribunal ‘stands in the shoes of the decision-maker’ and considers whether the decision was the correct or preferable decision.

You may apply to ACAT to have a decision under s34 of the Road Transport (General) Act 1999 reviewed by ACAT.

See: JOYCE v THE CHIEF POLICE OFFICER (Administrative Review) [2021] ACAT 49

Make an infringement notice declaration

If you receive an infringement notice for an offence which you are not responsible for, you can make an infringement notice declaration (see ss 26(2)(d) and 28(2)(d) Road Transport (General) Act 1999 (ACT)). An infringement notice declaration tells the agency that issued the infringement notice that you were not driving the vehicle at the time the offence was committed. It provides information to assist the agency with identifying and locating the person who was driving the vehicle at the time of the offence There are 4 types of infringement notice declarations (see s 21A Road Transport (General) Act 1999 (ACT) (definition of 'infringement notice declaration')):

• if you know who was driving the vehicle at the time of the infringement, you can make a Known User Infringement Notice Declaration;
• if you had sold the vehicle prior to the time of the infringement, you can make a Sold Vehicle Infringement Notice Declaration;
• if the vehicle was stolen or taken illegally at the time of the infringement, you can make an Illegal User Infringement Notice Declaration; or
• if you do not know who was driving the vehicle at the time of the infringement, you can make an Unknown User Infringement Notice Declaration.

When making an infringement notice declaration, you need to be absolutely sure of the accuracy of the declaration (e.g that you were not driving the vehicle at the time of the infringement) because it is a criminal offence to make a statutory declaration which you know is false. Making a false declaration is punishable by a fine of up to $3,200, (see s 232 Road Transport (General) Act 1999 s133(2) Legislation Act 2001 (ACT)).

Dispute liability for the offence

If you believe that you are not responsible for the infringement (e.g. you receive a parking ticket but can demonstrate that you both paid for and properly displayed a ticket), you can apply to dispute liability of an infringement notice (see ss 26(2)(e), 28(2)(e) and 51 Road Transport (General) Act 1999 (ACT)). If you dispute liability, the agency that issued the infringement notice has 60 days to refer the matter to the Magistrates Court (see s 53(2)(b) Road Transport (General) Act 1999 (ACT)). During this time, you can stop the matter from proceeding to court if you pay the amount of the penalty as well as the costs and reasonable expenses (disbursements) of the agency that issued the infringement notice (see s 53(3) Road Transport (General) Act 1999 (ACT)). If the matter goes before the court and the court finds that you are responsible for the offence, it can order that you pay both the amount of the penalty as well as additional costs.

Apply to have the infringement notice penalty waived

If you accept liability for the offence, in very limited circumstance you can apply for a waiver of the infringement notice penalty (see ss 26(2)(b)(iii), 28(2)(b)(iii) and Div 3.2B Road Transport (General) Act 1999 (ACT)). To apply for a waiver, you need to set out in writing your financial and other relevant circumstances (see s 31F(2) Road Transport (General) Act 1999 (ACT)). This information must be sufficient to satisfy the RTA that (as set out in s 31G(3) Road Transport (General) Act 1999 (ACT)):

• you do not have, and are unlikely to have, the financial ability to pay the penalty;
• you have special circumstances (eg a mental or physical disability, homelessness, alcohol or other drug dependence);
• enforcement action (ie driver licence or vehicle registration suspension) has not resulted in, or is unlikely to result in, you paying the fine; and
• you are not a suitable person to discharge the fine by completing an approved community work or social development program.

To apply for a waiver go to the Access Canberra website here: https://www.accesscanberra.act.gov.au/s/article/traffic-and-parking-infringements-tab-waive-an-infringement. Select the ‘Manage infringement’ tab and follow the prompts.

Apply to enter into an infringement notice management plan

An Infringement Notice Management Plan (INMP) provides flexibility for those struggling to pay their traffic, parking and traffic camera infringements by allowing for penalties to be repaid by instalments or through participation in a Work or Development Program (WDP) (see s 31A(2)(a) Road Transport (General) Act 1999 (ACT)). If you accept liability for an offence but you are likely to have difficulty in paying the penalty, you may be able to apply to enter into an INMP (see ss 26(2)(b)(i), 28(2)(b)(i) and Div 3.2A Road Transport (General) Act 1999 (ACT)) or, where you already have an existing INMP, for the penalty to be added to your existing INMP (see ss 26(2)(b)(ii) and 28(2)(b)(ii) Road Transport (General) Act 1999 (ACT)).

Participating in an INMP immediately lifts any licence suspension which was imposed because a penalty was not paid, makes you no longer liable for the offence and prevents you being prosecuted for the offence (see ss 39 and 47 Road Transport (General) Act 1999 (ACT)). However, any court ordered sanctions or demerit point suspensions incurred will still remain in force.

Payment by instalments

An application to pay an infringement notice by instalments will be approved where it is justified because of your financial circumstances, such as when you hold one of the following cards (see ss 31A(4)(b) and 31B(3)(a) Road Transport (General) Act 1999 (ACT); reg 14EA Road Transport (Offences) Regulation 2005 (ACT)):

• Centrelink Health Care Card;
• Centrelink Pension Card;
• Department of Veterans' Affairs Pension Card; or
• Department of Veterans' Affairs Gold Card.

The amount of each instalment under an INMP will be set by agreement, but it must be at least $10 per fortnight (see s 31B(7)(b) Road Transport (General) Act 1999 (ACT); reg 14EB Road Transport (Offences) Regulation 2005 (ACT)).

If you are in danger of missing a payment under an INMP, you must contact the RTA in writing as soon as possible (see reg 16A Road Transport (Offences) Regulation 2005 (ACT); s 151B Legislation Act 2001 (ACT)). If you miss 2 or more consecutive payments, or fail to make 5 or more payments in any 12-month period (see reg 16C Road Transport (Offences) Regulation 2005 (ACT)), the RTA will automatically send you a suspension notice advising that your driver licence or right to drive any vehicle in the ACT will be suspended if you do not resume complying with the plan before a nominated date. If compliance with the INMP is not resumed by that date, a suspension confirmation notice will be issued, telling you that your driver licence or right to drive any vehicle in the ACT has been suspended (see s 44A Road Transport (General) Act 1999 (ACT)). If you resume complying with the INMP, the RTA will revoke the suspension (see s 47A Road Transport (General) Act 1999 (ACT)).

Information on how to apply to pay a traffic, parking or traffic camera infringement notice by instalments under an INMP can be obtained from the INMP and WDP section of Access Canberra's website: https://www.accesscanberra.act.gov.au/s/article/traffic-and-parking-infringements-tab-infringement-notice-management-plans.

Participation in a Work or Development Program (WDP)

Depending on your circumstances, you may be eligible to discharge a traffic, parking or traffic camera infringement by completing a WDP, such as undertaking unpaid work for or on behalf of an approved program provider or participating in a treatment program for addiction to drugs, alcohol or other substances (see reg 16D Road Transport (Offences) Regulation 2005 (ACT)). To be eligible, you must be able to demonstrate at least 1 of the following (see Road Transport (Approval to Participate in an approved Community Work or Social Development Program) Guidelines 2019 (No 1) (ACT)):

• serious financial hardship;
• mental or intellectual disability or mental disorder;
• physical disability, disease or illness;
• addiction to drugs, alcohol or another substance;
• being subject to domestic/family violence; or
• experiencing homelessness, or living in crisis or transitional or supported accommodation.

Participation in a WDP carries a monetary value which is applied to reduce the total of your infringements, as set out in the following table (see reg 16F Road Transport (Offences) Regulation 2005 (ACT)):

Activity	Monetary Value
Unpaid community work for or on behalf of an approved program provider	$37.50 per hour
Educational, vocational or life skills course	$50.00 per hour or $350 per full (7 hour) day to a maximum of $1000.00 per month
Financial or other counselling (including attending case management meetings)	$50.00 per hour or $350 per full (7 hour) day to a maximum of $1000.00 per month
Participation (as a mentee) in a mentoring program	$1000 per month for full compliance (or a proportion for partial compliance)
Medical or mental health treatment in accordance with a practitioner's treatment plan	$1000 per month for full compliance (or a proportion for partial compliance)
Drug or alcohol treatment	$1000 per month for full compliance (or a proportion for partial compliance)*

* Partial compliance formula = 1000 / number of days in months x number of days person participated in the program for the month: reg 16F(2)(c) Road Transport (Offences) Regulation 2005 (ACT).

To apply for a WDP it is helpful to begin by discussing your circumstances with the RTA's Infringement Plan Office. They can be contacted by phoning (02) 6207 6000 or by sending an email to acinfringements@act.gov.au. Further information about applying for a WDP can be obtained from the INMP and WDP section of Access Canberra's website: https://www.accesscanberra.act.gov.au/s/article/traffic-and-parking-infringements-tab-work-and-development-programs

If you require more than 28 days to take action on the infringement notice, you can apply to the issuing agency to extend the due date by up to 6 months (see s 29(1) Road Transport (General) Act 1999 (ACT); reg 14E Road Transport (Offences) Regulation 2005 (ACT)). If your application for an extension of time is refused, you must deal with the fine within either 7 days after being told about the decision or 28 days from receiving the infringement or reminder notice, whichever is longer (see reg 14C Road Transport (Offences) Regulation 2005 (ACT)).

You should apply for an extension of time if you will be making an application to deal with an infringement notice within the 28 day period but that application is unlikely to be determined by the agency before the expiry of that period.