In a big win for NSW motorists, the NSW Government’s reforms to the parking fine system came into effect yesterday.

It ends years of an unfair system, where hundreds of thousands of fines were issued to motorists as long as two weeks after they were booked by a parking officer.

The previous state government implemented ticketless parking fines in 2020, even as advocacy groups and the community warned they were unfair and lacked transparency.

The NSW Government’s series of reforms includes requirements for councils and other issuing agencies to:

• Attach a parking fine or notification to the vehicle (except in limited circumstances, for example where it is unsafe for the parking officer) 
• Send to Revenue NSW images of the parking offence and the fine or notification, and make them available to the driver on request
• Issue a parking fine no later than seven days after the offence, if a notification was not attached
• Collate data on their use of parking fines and make it publicly available.

Following passing of the legislation, Revenue NSW worked with councils, the NRMA, the United Services Union and advocacy groups to ensure issuing agencies had the technical capability to enable the reforms as soon as practicable. 

For many of NSW’s 128 councils this would have included purchasing new equipment, including handheld printing devices and cameras, as well as re-training officers and staff to understand the new requirements. 

Revenue NSW has established an internal taskforce to monitor implementation of the reforms, ensure compliance by councils, and invalidate fines which do not meet the new legislative requirements.

The taskforce will also monitor exemptions to the requirement to provide an on-the-spot notification to ensure they are not used as an excuse to continue issuing unfair ticketless fines.

Since the government placed a spotlight on the issue, the number of ticketless parking fines has decreased, with many councils already taking their own action.

From 1 January to 30 June 2024, councils issued 435,363 ticketless fines. From 1 January to 20 June 2025, councils issued only 371,565 ticketless fines, a drop of around 15%.

Minister for Finance Courtney Houssos said, “Today marks the end of the previous government’s unfair ticketless parking fine system.

“People shouldn’t be caught by a surprise parking ticket weeks later. Our commonsense changes bring fairness and transparency back to the system.

“Motorists will once again benefit from on-the-spot notifications. New requirements that motorists are provided with photos of the offence will assist them if they wish to object to a fine.

“Our new data requirements will ensure we can keep a close eye on the progress of these reforms.

“I want to thank councils for their work over the last few months to take action on this legislation. I know for many of them it required a significant uplift in their processes to meet the new standards.”

NRMA Spokesperson Peter Khoury said, “The NRMA welcomes the end to ticketless parking fines in NSW and commends the NSW Government for listening to motorists and making this commonsense reform.

“Transparency matters. People deserve to know when and why they’re being fined—and to have a fair chance to challenge it if needed.

“The Government has worked through the issues, consulted widely, and come to an appropriate solution. Today is a great day for NSW motorists.”