NSW parking fine reforms are delivering change for the people of the state, with a reported reduction in ticketless fines by as much as 99 per cent in some council areas.
The NSW Government said that under previous parking laws, drivers sometimes only found out they received a fine weeks after the fact, limiting their ability to gather evidence to challenge the fine, and resulting in fines not changing behaviour.
The reforms introduced by the State Government mean that parking officers must once again leave a physical on-the-spot notification for parking fines, except in limited circumstances (for example, where the car is moving, or where it is not safe for the ranger to attach a notification).
In the first three months following the government’s reforms coming into effect (1 July 2025 to 30 September 2025), councils across NSW issued just over 319,000 parking fines, of which only five per cent were ticketless.
This represents a decline of 93 per cent in the number of ticketless fines compared to the corresponding period July to September 2024.
Some of Sydney’s largest councils have seen the biggest reductions in their use of ticketless fines, including:
| Council | Ticketless fines 1 Jul-30 Sep 2024 |
Physical tickets issued 1 Jul-30 Sep 2024 | Ticketless fines 1 Jul-30 Sep 2025 |
Physical tickets issued 1 Jul-30 Sep 2025 | % decrease in ticketless fines issued |
| City of Sydney | 72,284 | 115 | 1,102 | 58,206 | 98% |
| North Sydney Council | 15,518 | 22 | 277 | 13,145 | 98% |
| Canterbury Bankstown Council | 13,418 | 5,409 | 403 | 11,396 | 97% |
| Northern Beaches Council | 12,654 | 21 | 119 | 11,658 | 99% |
| City of Newcastle | 10,256 | 32 | 663 | 7,817 | 94% |
| Randwick City Council | 8,701 | 4 | 161 | 8,108 | 98% |
| Bayside Council | 9,224 | 4 | 735 | 5,996 | 92% |
| All council areas | 238,147 | 134,874 | 15,941 | 303,765 | 93% |
As part of its delivery of the reforms, Revenue NSW is working with councils to monitor adoption and compliance. This includes regular meetings between councils and Revenue NSW staff, training and webinars for council staff to understand the limits of the ‘limited exceptions’ rule, and ongoing reporting requirements.
NSW Minister for Finance, Courtney Houssos, said that three months in, it’s clear the reforms are delivering what the State Government promised.
“Our reforms are about restoring trust in the parking fine system. People deserve to know immediately if they’ve received a fine – not weeks later when it may be too late to challenge it,” Houssos said.
“Councils right across NSW have reverted to on-the-spot notifications, which is exactly what these reforms were designed to do.
“I want to thank councils for their efforts to implement these changes and bringing back fairness and transparency to the parking fine system.
“These commonsense and practical changes mean motorists will no longer be blindsided by fines weeks after parking. They’ll know immediately and have a fair chance to respond.”
