Request a Review

SDRO has high resolution computer monitors and can enlarge and enhance the image to establish the correct registration number. A penalty notice is not issued if there is any doubt. If you choose to have a penalty notice heard in court the online image can only be used for reference purposes. RTA will present court quality images as prima facie evidence, which contain the time, date and location of offence.

Penalty notices can be issued by the SDRO or over 700 other government agencies and authorities including:

• NSW Police
• Roads and Traffic Authority (RTA)
• Environmental Protection Authority (EPA)
• Rail Corp
• State Transit Authority
• local councils
• other government agencies.

Enforcement orders are issued for the above and also for the following agencies:

• NSW Local Courts
• the Jury Branch of the Sheriff's Office
• the State Electoral Office.

For certain non-serious offences, we can consider your driving history if you have had no demerit point offences in the 10 years before the offence date. There must be no speeding, red light camera, no stopping, driving in a bus lane, negligent driving, offences for driving under the influence of alcohol or other demerit point offences.

SDRO has access to the traffic history of all NSW RTA licensed drivers and will verify your claim. If you are licensed interstate, please obtain and supply a copy of your driving record for the 10 year period with your form to request a review of a penalty notice.

Read more in SDRO Review Guidelines.

Read information on how to request a review of a penalty notice.

You can have the matter determined in court. Return the completed court election form received with your penalty or penalty reminder notice before the due date on the notice or letter, if you have received a letter providing a later date. If the penalty notice has now become an enforcement order, you need to apply to have it heard in court through an annulment application.

Contact us immediately to see if the court attendance notice has been prepared. If the court attendance notice has not been processed, you can email, fax or mail a retraction to cancel your court election. If the court attendance notice has been processed, SDRO no longer has authority over the penalty notice and you will need to proceed to finalise the matter through the court. The information sheet received with the court attendance notice will explain the process further.

You can request a review of a fine if you can prove it was incorrectly issued or if there are special circumstances.

Examples of these circumstances are:

• you have a mobility parking permit, but received a fine for parking in a disabled zone
• you received a parking fine when your vehicle had broken down
• you parked longer than permitted because of a medical emergency
• you have a minor traffic offence and have been driving for at least 10 years before the offence without having a driving offence or demerit point fine recorded against you.

You need to supply documentary evidence to support your claim. The SDRO Review Guidelines contain more information about the type of documentary evidence and scenarios we can consider.

If you are the owner of the vehicle, but were not the driver or person in charge of the vehicle at the time of the offence, complete the statutory declaration provided with your penalty or penalty reminder notice and return it to us. Download the statutory declaration form.

A statutory declaration is generally accepted for:

• camera detected offences
• some littering offences
• parking, toll way offences.

The statutory declaration must be completed by the person issued with the notice and received by us before the due date on the penalty reminder notice.

If you do not supply the name and details of the person who was responsible or these are not received in time, enforcement action will commence and additional costs apply.

Although the camera is aimed at the registration number, the photograph may assist in identifying the driver so you can comply with your obligation to nominate the person responsible, by sending us a statutory declaration telling us their details. You can view a photograph of your camera detected fine through our online camera images application free of charge.

Do not disregard the fine. Complete a statutory declaration giving us the details of the person who purchased your vehicle.

A statutory declaration form is provided with penalty notices and penalty reminder notices. You can download the statutory declaration form if you need another copy.

Contact the Roads and Traffic Authority and advise them of the sale of your vehicle to prevent further fines in your name.

The statutory declaration needs to be signed by an authorised representative of the company, such as:

• a director
• the company secretary.

If you do not use the form supplied, the authorised person needs to include their name and position. This should be completed on company letterhead stationery.

Although the photo taken by the camera is aimed at the vehicle and registration number, it may assist in identifying the driver. You can access our online camera images application to view a photograph of your camera detected fine free of charge. The person named on the penalty notice may alternatively purchase a copy of the photo of the offence, by sending us a cheque or money order for $11 with a written request. Please identify the penalty number with your request.

You may have been nominated by the owner of the vehicle as the person in charge of the vehicle at the time of the offence.

If you do not recognise the vehicle registration or location, contact us. If you were nominated by another person, we can tell you their name.

If you previously owned the vehicle but sold it before the offence date, complete the statutory declaration received with the notice. Tell us the name and details of the person who purchased the vehicle, and send us the completed statutory declaration. You need to advise the RTA of the change in ownership to prevent further fines for that vehicle in your name.

If you do not recognise the vehicle or location, contact us.

You can receive two types of fines:

• an 'on-the-spot' fine
  The offence is observed by an authorised officer and the fine is handed or posted to an individual or company by the police officer, rail transit officer or other authorised government officer. These may be handwritten or printed.
• a penalty notice issued to the registered owner of a vehicle
  This could be a fine for parking, speeding, failing to pay a toll at a toll way, driving in a bus or Tway or not stopping at a red light. The fine will be posted to the registered owner/operator of the offending vehicle.

If you were not the person in charge of the vehicle at the time of the offence, complete a statutory declaration, giving us the name and details of the person responsible. Send us the completed statutory declaration before the payment due date on the penalty or reminder notice.

We will transfer the fine into the name of the person responsible - you do not need to pay the fine. A new penalty notice will be sent to that person for payment. This will ensure the demerit points are applied to the correct person.

You cannot transfer liability for an 'on-the-spot' fine which was issued in your name.

Refer to the insert received with your camera detected penalty notice or contact RTA.

We can review enforcement orders and at times, stop enforcement action where it is clear that you were not responsible for the offence.

We can stop enforcement action if you can prove, with supporting documentation that :

• you received an enforcement order for an offence that occurred prior to 31 January 1998 and the fine was paid
• community service was undertaken
• the fine was satisfied through time spent in prison.

For all other requests, please contact us to discuss your circumstances.

If your licence has been suspended due to unpaid enforcement orders and you can prove you were not driving the vehicle at the time of the offence but did not tell us who was driving before the due date on the penalty notice, you need to:

• submit an annulment application
• send us a $50 non-refundable fee
• send us a statutory declaration telling us who was in charge of the vehicle at the time of the offence.

We will assess your application and if possible transfer the fine to the person you tell us was responsible and direct the RTA to reinstate your demerit points.

If you do not supply the name and details of the person who was responsible, the matter will be heard in court. Once your annulment application is processed we will send you a court attendance notice telling you the date and location of the court you must attend.

You are required by law to update your address on RTA records within 14 days of moving. This requirement is stipulated on the back of your NSW driver licence.

The addresses that fines are generally issued to include:

• the address where your vehicle is registered or
• the address on RTA records for your licence
• the address you gave the issuing officer
• in the case of court fines, the address you gave the court
• for State electoral and jury duty fines, your electoral roll address.

If you feel that an error has occurred and you should not be liable for enforcement cost, you should contact us . There may be options to review the additional costs depending on the circumstances and supporting evidence you have supplied.

If we find an error has occurred and notices from the issuing authority have not been served on you correctly before the issue of the enforcement order, we will :

• write to you confirming that the cost has been waived or,
• we will stop enforcement action and return the fine to a penalty notice, providing you with the options available to satisfy a penalty notice.

If we find the notices have been served correctly, you have no option other than to pay the enforcement order in full.

If your application for postponement or write off of your enforcement order is unsuccessful, you can have the decision reviewed by the Fines Hardship Review Board.

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