More than 23,000 COVID-19 penalty notices that remain outstanding will be withdrawn, it has been confirmed.
The NSW Commissioner of Fines Administration in consultation with the NSW Police Commissioner has made the decision to withdraw all remaining 23,539 COVID-19 related penalty notices.
In addition, around $5.5 million in total will be refunded to individuals who have made full or partial payment of a COVID-19 fine.
Revenue NSW will begin contacting customers affected by this decision over the coming days.
During the height of the pandemic, Public Health Orders were put in place to protect the community, with NSW Police as the principal issuing authority and Revenue NSW responsible for the collection and administration of fines.
In late 2022 the Commissioner of Fines Administration exercised his statutory power to withdraw around 36,000 penalty notices in relation to four different COVID-19 related offences.
This was on the basis that limited information contained in some penalty notices made it difficult for fine recipients to understand the nature of the offence and did not comply with the specificity requirement of the Fines Act 1996.
The remaining 23,539 penalty notices were not withdrawn as part of this decision as they were formulated differently, with a clearer explanation of the offences for which they were issued.
However, they will now be withdrawn.
“Following representations made to the Commissioner of Police and myself concerning the validity of COVID-19 penalty notices, I have decided to exercise my statutory authority and withdraw these notices,” Commissioner of Fines Administration Scott Johnston said.
“Revenue NSW will be reaching out to all affected customers to support them through the finalisation of their matters.”
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