Kingston to refund unsuccessfully appealed parking fines between 2006 and 2016

5 March 2019

Kingston Council will refund 10 years of unsuccessfully appealed parking fines, following concerns raised over the wording of Victorian Government legislation governing how parking fine reviews should be handled.

Fines issued in Kingston between 2006 and 2016 that were appealed under the Infringements Act 2006 and then paid will be refunded.

It is estimated that around 20,000 fines may be impacted, worth approximately $2.3million.

Council has been looking into a refund program for a number of weeks and is finalising a list of impacted motorists. 

Kingston Mayor Georgina Oxley said the wording of the Infringements Act 2006 was unclear and that advice on the issue had been mixed.

“It is common for Councils, and potentially some state agencies, to outsource the issuing of infringement tickets to an external contractor, however there have been concerns raised that the legislation may not allow external agencies to conduct appeals,” Cr Oxley said. 

“In 2016 we received advice that, although the wording of the Act wasn’t clear, our processes were acceptable. We wanted to remove any confusion and since 2016 have conducted all reviews ourselves,” Cr Oxley.  “However, we recently received updated advice and Council now believes that the introduction of the Act meant the final decision of the review should not have been outsourced, and that council rather than its contractor should have undertaken the review.”

“For that reason, we want to be fair and transparent and therefore will be refunding appealed fines during the 10-year period,” Cr Oxley said.  “We are in the final stages of preparing the refund process and will have further details in coming weeks.”

Kingston Council will also write to the Victorian Attorney General to express concerns about the wording of the legislation and to urge State Government to immediately address these concerns through legislative changes.