Request a fine reduction

A payment plan is not suitable if:

• you are unable to pay the fine within 12 months by making a new payment plan
• you already have a payment plan and adding your fine to your plan would extend it by more than 12 months.

You will not be eligible for a Work and Development Order if:

• there are no sponsors where you live
• your hardship makes it difficult to find a sponsor
• you have previously been denied or refused support from a sponsor
• you are unable to perform a Work and Development Order for other reasons, for example, you are caring for someone full-time. 

The government benefits that a person must have been in receipt of at the time of the offence include:

• Health Care Card
• Ex-Carer Allowance (Child) Health Care Card
• Commonwealth Seniors Health Card
• Disability Support Pension
• Newstart
• ABSTUDY Living 
• Widow Allowance
• Veterans Affairs benefits. 

Fine reductions may be considered for:

• minor public transport offences
• some parking offences
• some animal offences, for example, not registering your dog
• fishing offences,
• some littering offences
• some bicycle offences
• pedestrian offences, for example, jaywalking.

Fine reductions are generally not considered for:

• speeding
• any offences in school zones
• heavy vehicle offences
• seatbelt offences
• mobile phone offences
• red light offences
• parking offences that attract demerit points
• animal offences relating to dangerous dogs
• littering offences relating to lit cigarettes
• bicycle related mobile phone or red light offences
• pollution, including asbestos offences
• COVID-19 offences
• Criminal offences
• Alcohol and drug driving offences.

Fine reductions are not available for:

• court fines
• jury duty related fines
• voting related fines
• fines issued to a body corporate
• significant offences
• people with a pattern of offending.

After your application has been reviewed, you will be notified in writing whether it has been:

• approved, or
• refused.

If your application is approved, you will be sent a reduced fine and given your options for how you can deal with the fine. The reduction will only apply to the original fine and not any additional costs that were added to an overdue fine.

If your application is refused, you will be given your options to deal with the whole fine. You can’t appeal to the Hardship Review Board.

If you applied for a fine reduction after getting a fine notice reminder, you may be given another reminder.

Additional penalties still apply

If your application to have your fine reduced by 50% is successful, any other penalties that came with the fine will still apply, for example, demerit points, licence suspensions, disqualifications and cancellations.