IT issues associated with the transfer of the traffic infringement system from WA Police to the Department of Transport are to blame for a delay in speeding tickets being delivered, Transport Minister Rita Saffioti says.
The department confirmed there were temporary delays with the processing of some traffic infringements as a result of the changeover, which began late last year.
Traffic infringements are falling behind in WA.Credit: Hannah Barry
As of January 20, there were 73,000 infringements awaiting processing. However, this number is not static and changes day to day.
Saffioti said the department had been working through the IT issues.
“There’s been a significant change in how we’re dealing with infringements, so they have moved from the police portfolio or the police agency to transport,” she said.
“That means they’ve had to set up a whole new set of IT equipment and there has been a backlog so we apologise for that, and we are working through that.
“I expect the processing time will be brought back into satisfactory parameters very, very soon.”
A Department of Transport spokesman said the “oldest” infringement awaiting processing was dated December 6, 2024, which was a similar period to the previous infringement processing system.
He said serious infringements such as hoon offences were always prioritised and were not part of the infringements waiting to be processed.
“Once complete, this transition will provide better, more convenient and more flexible payment options for people paying infringements, as DoT has a number of existing and convenient payment options for customers for driver and vehicle licensing services,” he said.
“This has been a complex transition in technical and system terms and, owing to this complexity, delays in processing infringements have occurred. This is a temporary situation while the changeover is made.”
Deputy Liberal leader Steve Martin said his party had warned the government about the changeover issue eight months ago.
“We now have almost certainly people driving who should be suspended from their license, and we did warn the government that this could be looming,” he said.
“So after spending millions of dollars, we have this backlog and a shift of responsibility from one department to another.
“The government have given up governing. They’re out campaigning, and the day-to-day stuff of running the government is being missed.”
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