Fines and Infringements

Infringements or fines are incurred for breaches of regulations and cover a range of offences.
Infringement notices can be handed to you in person, put under a windscreen wiper blade of your car or sent to you in the mail.
Failure to pay an infringement notice or to take any other action may result in incurring additional costs or further enforcement action.

I’ve received a fine – what are my options?

If you’ve received an Infringement Notice, you’ll have 28 days to deal with your fine. You can choose to pay it, or deal with it in another way. Your options include:

If you don’t deal with your fine by the due date, you’ll receive a Penalty Reminder Notice and an additional fee will be added to your fine. This reminder will give you an additional timeframe to deal with your fine before it becomes more serious. The same rights, responsibilities and payment options apply to a Penalty Reminder Notice.

If you don’t deal with your Penalty Reminder Notice by the due date, your fine will be registered with the Director, Fines Victoria. The Director will then send you a Notice of Final Demand and additional fees will be added to your fine. A Notice of Final Demand is a written document to enforce an unpaid fine with added costs. You must comply with a notice within 21 days.

If you don’t pay your fine and you ignore all reminders, the Magistrates Court may issue an enforcement warrant against you and further fees will be added to your fine.

If an enforcement warrant is issued, a Sheriff's Officer can:

come to your address and demand payment (this is an official process called a 'payment demand')
stop you at a police roadblock
wheel clamp your vehicle
seize and sell your personal property
remove the number plates from your vehicle

If you don't pay your fine in full when asked to by a Sheriff's Officer, they'll issue you with a Seven Day Notice.

If you don't deal with your fine, the Director may also direct VicRoads to suspend your licence or registration. You'll be notified in writing by VicRoads when this has happened. Note: It's a serious offence to drive with a suspended licence or unregistered vehicle.

Seven Day Notice

This is your final warning to deal with your fine before the Sheriff takes further action against you. During the seven day period, you can:

pay the outstanding amount in full
apply for a payment arrangement
request a review (enforcement review)
apply for a work and development permit (if eligible)
apply for the family violence scheme, if you meet certain criteria

Once the seven day notice period expires, you can't apply for a payment arrangement, work and development permit, the family violence scheme or request a review.

Fines Victoria - Fine Lifecycle

Need help understanding your fine?

The information on your fine is important. If you don’t understand it, you should have it explained to you. If you have an Infringement Notice or Penalty Reminder Notice and would like to talk to someone, call Council’s Local Laws team on 5662 9200.

If your fine has been registered with the Director, Fines Victoria and you would like to talk to someone, call Fines Victoria on 03 9200 8222 or 1300 369 819 (for regional callers) Monday to Friday, 8am to 6pm (except public holidays).

Can I make a payment arrangement?

If you’ve received a fine and can’t pay the full amount by the due date, you can request a referral to pay the amount by instalments. Council refers these requests to Fines Victoria – this is called a Referred Payment Arrangement.

Once Council has referred your request, an Officer from Fines Victoria will contact you to start the application process. Your application may be assessed based on:

• the outstanding fine amount

• your financial status

• any hardship that you are experiencing

• your income

• your payment history

• if you hold a Centrelink Pensioner Concession Card

• if you hold a Department of Veterans' Affairs Pensioner Concession Card or Gold Card

• if you hold a Centrelink Health Care Card

Once a decision has been made, you'll receive notification from Fines Victoria in the mail or by email explaining the outcome of your application. If your application is successful, you’ll receive information about how to pay your instalments.

How can I have my fine reviewed?

If you believe you’ve been unfairly issued with a fine, or that there is a valid reason why your fine should be withdrawn, you can request an internal review.

If you’ve received an Infringement Notice or Penalty Reminder Notice, you can apply to have your fine reviewed by Council – this is called an Internal Review. You’re allowed one internal review per infringement notice.

You can request a review of your fine if you believe:

the decision was contrary to law
you did it, but you had exceptional circumstances
there has been a mistake of identity
you were unaware of the notice and it was not personally given to you
you had special circumstances
your fines resulted from family violence

You may be asked to provide evidence to support your application.

If your fine is for a parking offence and you were not in possession or control of the vehicle at the time of the offence, you can apply to nominate the driver responsible.

Council’s Appeals Officer will review your request within 90 days of receiving your application. Your application for internal review will be assessed based on the information and evidence you provide to support your claim. Once a decision has been made, you’ll receive notice of the outcome in writing.

Possible outcomes of an internal review

Council’s Appeals Officer may decide to:

withdraw the fine and take no further action against you
withdraw the fine and issue an official warning instead
refer the matter to the Magistrate’s Court (of the Children’s Court if you’re under 18)
waive or vary any fees associated with the fine
waive or vary any additional steps imposed by the fine
approve a request for a referred payment arrangement
confirm its decision to issue you with the fine

Once your review has been completed, you will receive written notification of the outcome of your review.