NSW puts councils on notice over ticketless parking fines

Councils in one state have been told to fix up their unfair parking ticket systems or risk it being done for them.

NSW councils have been told to stop issuing ticketless parking fines or face intervention from the state government after the sneaky fines exploded by more than 270,000 between 2022-23 and 2023-24.

The system, which was first introduced in 2020, means drivers are not immediately notified of parking fines, with the government arguing the scheme doesn’t deter drivers from committing parking infringements and fails to meet community expectations.

It prompted NSW Finance Minister Courtney Houssos to write to councils in March this year; however, she said newly released data showing the increase in parking fines and exploding parking ticket revenue was proof there was a “need to act”.

NSW councils have been ordered to put an end to ticketless parking fines. Picture: NewsWire/ James Gourley

Figures released by the state government revealed ticketless fines had increased by 49 per cent from 551,411 in 2022/23 to 822,310 in 2023/24, while traditional fines decreased by 22 per cent (716,148 in 2022/23 to 558,634 in 2023/24).

Revenue generated from the paperless charges also increased by 54 per cent ($55,141,305) to $158,015,513 in the 2023-24 financial year, with revenue of all fine formats increasing by 14 per cent to $253,606,381.

“I think at a time when families and households are under enormous pressure that it’s more important than ever that we have a fare system that offers immediate notification for drivers,” she said.

Finance Minister Courtney Houssos said councils could either heed the warning or risk intervention from the state government. Picture: NewsWire/ Monique Harmer

Ms Houssos said she wouldn’t rule out naming and shaming belligerent councils who failed to respond to the government’s edict; however, she praised local governments who had implemented workarounds like cards with QR codes.

“The principle, for me is that the driver receives an immediate notification,” she said.

“We’ve tried to be quite flexible about the way that we do that, taking on-board that there may be some costs that are associated, but it’s clear we have to act.”

As it stands, about 50 out of 128 councils across the state have opted into the ticketless program, with 30 councils indicating to Revenue NSW that they have either already implemented, or plan to implement, an instant on-the-spot notification system.