It’s a universally accepted truth that parking fines are up there among the very worst things to receive in the post. Since councils across NSW began implementing ticketless parking fines back in 2020, that heart-sinking letterbox moment has become increasingly common across Sydney – with drivers blissfully unaware of their parking folly until the letter landed. After complaints from the public that this kind of penalty system is unfair, the government has confirmed that paper tickets are returning to our windscreens. Sure, it's also a bad feeling to immediately know you've been penalised – but at least it's easier to dispute a fine when you can take a photo to prove you haven't done anything wrong.
Since 2020, 48 of NSW's 128 councils have transitioned to the ticketless parking fine system – a move that’s led to a surge in parking fine revenue for the government. In 2023 alone, the City of Sydney issued 265,181 ticketless parking fines to the value of a whopping $42.4 million, and the amount of ticketless parking fines issued in the financial year of 2023 to 2024 increased by 49 per cent compared with the previous year.
Back in March of this year, NSW Government Finance Minister Courtney Houssos wrote to councils urging those who use ticketless parking fines to adopt a new approach – and stopping new councils from signing up to the system.
Now, ticketless parking fines have been scrapped altogether thanks to the Fines Amendment (Parking Fines) Bill 2024 – bringing transparency back to parking fines by requiring councils to attach on-the-spot notification to vehicles found flouting parking rules.
The reform has been described as “ a common-sense reform” by by Minister for Finance Courtney Houssos, who explained why issuing ticketless parking fines is an unfair approach.
"Providing immediate notification to drivers is the right thing to do and is an important first step to restoring community trust in the administration of the fines system.” Hear, hear.
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