Revealed: The Sydney councils refusing to revert to paper parking fines

A growing list of local councils are defying calls by the State Government to revert to issuing old-school parking tickets after pocketing millions of dollars in revenue from a controversial ticketless parking fine system.

A growing list of councils are defying calls by the State Government to revert to issuing old-school parking tickets – after pocketing millions of dollars from the controversial ticketless system – with one Sydney council blaming the threat to parking rangers for its decision.

Liverpool, North Sydney and Lane Cove are among councils refusing to follow an edict by Finance Minister Courtney Houssos to revert to providing written notifications for parking fine offences.

More than 50 local councils are currently using the ticketless scheme that involves parking fines sent via mail rather than a physical ticket left on a vehicle.

The ticketless system has faced community backlash due to concerns it can take weeks for fines to be received via mail, therefore reducing the ability for motorists to gather evidence to contest a fine.

Ms Houssos said the ticketless system has “eroded trust” in how parking fines are issued and called for councils to address the shortcomings by providing physical notifications.

There have been calls for councils to revert to issuing instant notifications for parking fines.

Ms Houssos said community feedback has been “overwhelmingly in favour of councils providing drivers with on-the-spot notification of parking fines”.

“People just want transparency and I don’t think it’s reasonable for councils to stand in the way of commonsense solutions,” she said.

The list of the councils refusing to revert to paper fines includes Liverpool which claims reverting to hard copy fines would add “significant risk” to the safety of its parking rangers.

NSW Finance Minister Courtney Houssos.

A council spokeswoman said parking rangers are even having to “work in pairs throughout the Liverpool CBD” in response to “ongoing threat of abuse” from drivers issued paper fines.

North Sydney Council also has “no intention” to voluntarily move back to the paper ticketing system due to safety concerns for council rangers.

The City of Sydney – which issues the most parking fines of any council in NSW – has yet to commit to reverting back to paper tickets and is currently “reviewing” the NSW Government’s request.

Some councils netted more than $40 million in parking fines last year.

Fairfield and Lane Cove Councils are planning to continue issuing both physical and ticketless fines.

Sutherland Shire Council will continue issuing paper fines in most circumstances, except where vehicles are parked for short periods including school zones.

Northern Beaches Council – which has faced significant community opposition over the ticketless system – is currently assessing “the feasibility and legal implications” to revert to issuing paper fines.

Georges River councillors will also consider a motion by local councillor Ash Ambihaipahar next week for the council to revert to issuing written parking fine notifications.

A photo of a parking ranger on patrol in Sydney.

State Government figures show parking fines made up a staggering 45 per cent of all penalty notices issued in NSW in 2023 with 55 per cent issued by local councils using the ticketless systems,

The City of Sydney issued 265,181 ticketless parking fines to the value of $42.4 million,.

Canterbury-Bankstown Council collected $13.7 million in revenue from 57,418 fines, Parramatta pocketed $8.2 million and North Sydney Council netted $8.6 million.

Many councils have moved away from issuing paper parking fines.

Asked whether the NSW Government would consider forcing councils to revert to paper tickets by introducing legislation, Ms Houssos said “it’s only proper that we give councils the opportunity to fix this for their residents before considering legislation to address the shortcomings of the system.”

North Sydney resident David Davie – who chairs a local community group – labelled the ticketless scheme an exercise in “revenue raising”.

“The idea that it stops rangers getting abused doesn’t stand up because they still have to walk around the vehicles and take pictures of a vehicle,” he said.

“People have been getting fines weeks after they were issued and most people say ‘I can’t be bothered going to court to dispute it’ and just end up paying the fine.

“The feeling in the community is that people generally just want to know when and if they’ve been fined.”

Motorist group NRMA has been among the vocal opponents to the “unfair” ticketless parking system with spokesman Peter Khoury saying: “If motorists only learn they have been fined weeks later, it takes away the transparency of the scheme and stops motorists from gathering their own evidence.”