Council to launch Parking Fines Refund Scheme
On this page:
Merri-bek City Council is launching a Parking Fines Refund Scheme for motorists who received parking fines for 11 minor types of infringements from 1 July 2013 until 11 June 2025.
For 11 categories of parking infringement, the Road Safety Act 1986 allows for a discretionary range of penalties – ranging from 0.2 penalty units to 0.5 penalty units. Councils are legally able to charge up to 0.5 of a penalty unit for these 11 types of infringements, provided there is a Council resolution to do so. Otherwise, those parking infringement categories default to the value of 0.2 penalty units.
Merri-bek Council has been charging 0.5 penalty units for those 11 categories of parking infringement, as many councils do. Unfortunately, it has recently been discovered that there appears to be no current formal resolution in place setting this value. There has not been a relevant resolution in place since the 2012/13 financial year. This was due to administrative error in 2013, which has not been identified until recently.
Parking infringements have been issued validly since July 2013, to those who have broken the road rules. The amount charged for those infringements was allowed for by the Road Safety Act 1986. But the correct authorising resolution was not in place to charge the higher amount for the 11 types of infringements.
The most common type of infringement affected is for overstaying a parking time limit. Many other types of parking infringement are unaffected and were charged the correct amount, including for parking in a clearway, in a loading zone, and in a no stopping zone.
Council is initiating a refund scheme which will go live in early July. Affected motorists for the date range 1 July 2013 – 11 June 2025 will be able to apply for a refund for the overcharged amount of their parking fine amount. The overcharged amount ranges from $45-$59 depending on the year of issue.
Visit the Parking Fines Refund Scheme portal
Summary questions and answers:
-
Following thorough historical research Council determined it did not currently have the required resolution in place which enables councils to increase the penalty for 11 lower-level parking offences up to a maximum of 0.5 penalty units.
Council is initiating a refund scheme for parking infringements issued for the 11 parking fine categories between 1 July 2013 to 11 June 2025 due to an historical administration error.
For the 11 affected parking infringement types, the difference between the minimum and maximum penalty units over the past 12 years vary from $45 to $59 depending on the year a fine was issued.
-
Recipients of parking infringements for the 11 minor types between June 2013 to June 2025, who previously paid their fines, can apply for a refund of the overcharged amount.
We are working to prepare the refund scheme and it will go live in early July. You can sign up below to be notified via email when the refund scheme goes live.
In order to claim a refund, you will need to know and produce evidence of the infringement number, or if you can’t locate the infringement number, know the vehicle registration and produce evidence of owning or using that vehicle at the time you received the fine. Refunds will be made by transfer to a BSB and bank account number.
-
No. The infringements in the 11 affected categories were issued to motorists who had breached parking requirements and the Road Safety Rules.
The infringements were valid, but the amount of the fine was overcharged. That is why Council is introducing a refund scheme to refund the overcharged portion of the fine.
-
1. Parked for period longer than indicated
2. Parked fail to pay & obey instructions on sign
3. Stopped contrary to a No Parking sign
4. Stopped on a bicycle parking area
5. Stopped on a motor bike parking area
6. Parked contrary to requirement of parking area
7. Parked not at an angle of 45 degrees
8. Parked not at an angle of 90 degrees
9. Parked not completely within a parking bay
10. Parked long vehicle exceed minimum number of bays
11. Parked wide vehicle exceed minimum number of bays
-
The most common type of infringement affected is for overstaying a parking time limit. Some parking offences have greater road safety risks associated with them or create more significant impacts for other road users.
These have statutory penalties and Councils have no flexibility in the setting the fine. Common examples are stopped in a loading zone, stopped on a Clearway or No Stopping area, stopped double parked, stopped in a disability parking space, stopped in a permit zone.
If you have one of these infringements, the fine amount has been set correctly, and no refund is payable.
-
No-one likes receiving a parking infringement, but they are a legal and necessary part of managing traffic, parking and road safety.
This revenue is reinvested back into the community to provide services, upgrade infrastructure and maintain Council assets.
The money collected through these 11 infringement types was put towards this purpose.