‘Underhanded’ ticketing practice catching Sydney drivers out

Motorists could find out days or even weeks later if they’ve copped a fine as 36 councils across NSW change the way they dish out parking tickets. See if your council area is affected.

EXCLUSIVE: Printed parking infringements left on the windscreen have been scrapped by 36 councils meaning motorists have no idea they’ve been fined until days or weeks later when a letter arrives in the mail.

Concerns have been raised that motorists are being short-changed because a notice alerting them to a parking breach can take up to a week or longer to arrive in the mail, meaning drivers can’t gather evidence at the scene to contest the fine if they feel it’s unfair.

The ticketless system of handing out fines – which can be done by snail mail or online – is co-ordinated by the NSW Government’s revenue department, with 36 councils – out of 128 in the state – opting for the measure.

Avinash Singh, principal lawyer at Astor Legal, said advice to clients contesting parking fines included gathering photos at the scene – something made impossible by a lack of a paper ticket.

“If you get a parking ticket on the vehicle, you can take photos … if you get something in the mail a week later, a lot of the time it’s going to be difficult for you to recall where exactly you were parking, and it makes it impossible to contest it because you haven’t got the chance to take photos,” he said.

A City of Sydney parking officer on the job in the CBD. Picture: John Grainger

“We’ve given advice on quite a few (parking fine challenges), and most of the time we advise clients to take photos of the signs and where you’re parked … if you’re essentially taking that avenue away, it seems like a bit of an underhanded way preventing people from trying to defend these charges.”

NRMA spokesman Peter Khoury said while drivers breaching the rules were right to be fined, those with legitimate grounds to challenge were being disadvantaged.

“If you overstay your park, you deserve to be fined,” he said.

“What would be concerning is if people believe they had a legitimate claim against the fine, but have the opportunity to contest it taken away from them because they don’t know if they’ve been fined.”

Sydney drivers could be in for a rude shock in the mail. Picture: John Grainger

North Sydney and City of Sydney are two of the councils who have scrapped putting a ticket on the windshield, in favour of mail-out notices weeks later.

North Sydney Council signed up to the service in November 2021, with a spokesman saying “This has significantly reduced the level of confrontation and aggression our parking officers experience in their work”.

“Council has a high quality assurance process for issuing fines that includes five photos being taken when the fine is issued,” the spokesman said, adding “we have only had a couple of customers raise concerns about not receiving a paper ticket at the time it was issued”.

A City of Sydney spokeswoman said the email notifications systems “ensures the motorists are notified even if tickets go missing or are damaged by weather”.

“It also improves safety for our rangers, who often face abuse and aggression from members of the public while doing their job,” she said.

The Department of Customer Service didn’t respond to a request for comment before deadline.