Request a review

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

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.

SDRO may choose not to further review a penalty notice if a review has already been conducted. We will advise you in writing if this is so.

Yes, the issue of an official caution by an issuing officer does not affect the power of the officer to choose to issue a penalty notice in relation to an offence.

You should request a review with appropriate medical evidence to support the claim.

Contact us to discuss the circumstances. If you believe you have been fraudulently nominated as being responsible for the offence, you should report the matter to NSW Police and quote the event number supplied when submitting your request for review. If you believe your vehicle has been wrongly identified for a camera detected offence, you can check the image on our website. If you believe your vehicle has been wrongly identified for a parking offence, you should contact us or send us a request for review.

The person named on the penalty notice can request a review. If the party named on the notice is an organisation, then an authorised representative of that organisation can request a review. If the penalty is issued to a vehicle, then the registered owner becomes responsible for the offence and can request a review.

If the penalty is for a demerit offence, responsibility for the penalty will fall to the registered owner of the vehicle, unless they send us a statutory declaration naming the person responsible by the due date on the reminder. If received in time, we will transfer the penalty into the name of the person responsible. They will then receive a notice in their name and can then request a review.

Another person may write to us requesting a review on behalf of the person named on the penalty notice. However, if the request for review is not from the person named on the notice, to comply with privacy provisions, SDRO will respond to the person named on the notice, unless we also receive an 'Authority to Act', in writing or verbal, authorising us to deal with the writer.

See SDRO Review Guidelines

Yes, please choose carefully as generally there will be insufficient time to do both. The legislation requires SDRO to cease any review upon receipt of a court election. If you submit a request for review there is unlikely to be time available to meet the deadline for then choosing to have the matter decided in court. For assistance in deciding, see SDRO Review Guidelines or contact us.

The court can add costs and/or set an alternate amount for the penalty. Unless exempt, you will also pay a Victim's Compensation Levy. You would also be responsible for any legal fees you may choose to incur.

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.

No.

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 left on the windscreen of the vehicle or 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 RMS.

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. RMS 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 Maritime Services (RMS)
• 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 RMS 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.

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.

In certain circumstances you can have an enforced fine decided in court.

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

a) You can apply to have an enforced fine decided in court if you can prove:

• you were not aware a penalty notice had been issued until the enforcement order was served
• you were otherwise hindered by accident, illness, misadventure or other cause from taking action in relation to the penalty notice. Documentary evidence will be needed to support your claim
• a question or doubt has arisen as to your liability for the penalty and you had no other opportunity to obtain a review of that liability
• having regard to the circumstances of the case you can satisfy SDRO that there is other just cause to consider your application.

If one of above applies, you should send us:

• an annulment application explaining how your circumstances fit the above criteria and
• a bank cheque or money order for the $50 application fee and
• a statutory declaration telling us who was in charge of the vehicle at the time of the offence.

Note: It is insufficient to simply provide a statutory declaration now nominating another person as responsible for the offence, unless you can prove that you were hindered from previously providing it by the due date on the penalty reminder notice.

Note: Your application must be received within a reasonable time after the enforcement order was served and within a reasonable time after you were hindered in acting.

If your annulment application is approved, we will send you a court attendance notice telling you the date and location of the court to attend.

b) If none of the above circumstances apply to you, you should make arrangements to pay the enforcement order in full or by instalments. Finalising your enforcement order by payment will result in your licence restrictions being lifted, providing you have no other outstanding enforcement orders.

We will also consider lifting your licence restrictions if you show a pattern of payment by instalments. You can contact us for assistance or to establish a Time to Pay arrangement or complete the Time to Pay or Centrepay form. Once SDRO advise RMS to lift the restrictions, you should contact RMS on 13 22 13 after 10 am the next business day before driving.

You are required by law to update your address on RMS 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 RMS 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,
• 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 will need to pay the enforcement order or finalise it by one of the options explained on the enforcement order.

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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