Request a review of your fine

Circumstances for requesting a review of your fine

You can request a review of a fine notice, fine reminder notice or overdue fine if:

• there were special circumstances that led to the offence or
• you have a clear driving record and are seeking leniency or a caution for certain types of offences or
• you believe a mistake has been made - for example, it was the wrong vehicle or you were incorrectly nominated as the driver.  

Cautions for a clear driving record

If you have held a NSW licence for 10 years with a clear driving record, and you were issued a fine for a lower-risk offence, you may be eligible for a caution.

The 10 year period begins from when you first obtained your provisional licence or from your last demerit point offence.

For drivers with a clear driving record, lower-risk offences that may be eligible for a caution include:

• exceeding the speed by less than 20km/h
• bus lane
• T-Way
• transit lane
• not giving way
• not stopping at stop line
• disobey no left/right turn sign
• yellow light offences.

Types of fines generally not eligible for a caution for a clear driving record: 

• exceeding speed over 20km/h
• school zone offences
• mobile phone offences
• non demerit point offences (such as parking fines, unregistered/uninsured and /or unlicenced offences)
• heavy vehicle related offences
• instances where the Issuing Authority has noted danger, a person has been injured, serious damage to property or a risk to the public.

Call us to confirm your eligibility for a caution

The quickest way to process your caution is to call us on 1300 138 118. We can confirm whether you have held a NSW driver’s licence for more than 10 years with a clear driving record.

If you are eligible for a caution, we can handle it immediately over the phone.

Leniency for special circumstances

When providing your evidence for a review request, please tell us if something serious was happening at the time, such as a medical emergency, illness, disability, trauma, or another hardship. When reviewing your fine, we look at your personal situation and circumstances at the time of the offence.

Having a disability or mental illness does not automatically mean a fine will be withdrawn.

Leniency only applies when your special circumstance directly affected your behaviour at the time of the offence. This means we need to understand how the circumstance caused you to either:

• not understand what you were required to do, or
• be unable to control what happened.

Special circumstances include situations where a person was in the middle of a severe medical or mental health episode, or where an impairment meant they could not reasonably understand the rule they were breaking.

When leniency is unlikely

There are times when leniency is not usually granted. This includes situations where:

• you were aware of the rules but chose not to follow them
• your situation did not affect your ability to understand or control what happened
• the offence created a risk to other people’s safety
• you were travelling to respond to an emergency, rather than dealing with an immediate emergency in the vehicle
• the offence is one that rarely results in leniency due to high safety risks, such as serious speeding, mobile phone use, or red light offences.

What evidence you need to provide for special circumstances

To help us understand your situation, please provide documents such as:

• medical or hospital records (this documentation must confirm the date and time, the person admitted into hospital and that a medical emergency occurred at the time of the offence)
• reports from a doctor or specialist (this documentation must be supplied by an independent medical practitioner who has no association with the passenger or person responsible for the offence)
• letters from support services or government agencies
• if a driver or passenger is exempt from wearing a seatbelt due to medical reasons, they must provide a medical exemption from Transport for NSW.

If you are requesting a review for a pre-existing medical condition that affected your ability to drive at the time of the offence, this condition must have already been notified to Transport for NSW.

How leniency for special circumstances is reviewed

Every review is assessed by a person, using clear guidelines to make sure decisions are fair and consistent. Even if your situation does not meet the threshold for leniency, you may still have other options such as applying for a payment plan or a Work and Development Order.

Serious offences

You can request a review for any fine. However, some serious offences that involve high risk to public safety rarely result in leniency.

Serious offences include:

• red light offences
• mobile phone offences
• high speed offences
• school zone offences
• seatbelt offences
• helmet offences
• level crossing offences
• mobility scheme parking offences
• children/pedestrian crossing offences
• attempts to deceive or avoid detection
• other traffic offences where safety issues were identified.

Request a review via post

Complete the form Request for a review of a fine.

You will need to provide proof of identification such as your:

• address
• date of birth
• driver's licence number.

You can submit documents in writing to:
 Revenue NSW
 PO Box 786
 Strawberry Hills 2012

How the review process works

Your review is based on the evidence you provide  

Submitting the right evidence is critical, as your review is assessed only on the evidence you provide. Submitting a request with little or no evidence may cause delays or affect the outcome of your review.

Your fine is placed on hold during review

After you submit your review, we will put your fine on hold while we investigate it, which usually takes 21 days.

Your fine remains on hold until we have made a decision and informed you about the outcome.

Our review team will carefully review your application. We consider: 

• the seriousness of the offence, and
• the supporting documents you supply.

We may need to contact you or the authority that issued your fine for more details.

We will usually respond within 21 days. Complex reviews may take longer if we need to liaise with the issuing authority.

We use the following internal guidelines to inform our decisions. This ensures the process is fair and upholds the public expectation of road safety in NSW. 

• NSW Government Caution Guidelines and Internal Review Guidelines under the Fines Act 1996

Outcome of a request for review

You will receive the outcome of your review in writing via email or a posted letter.

The possible outcomes are:

Fine to stand
Our review found that your fine was issued correctly and we are unable to offer leniency. You will need to pay or manage your fine by the due date to avoid further costs or action.

Caution 
We have found that the fine was issued correctly, but due to the circumstances we are giving leniency. You are not required to pay the fine but it may still appear on your driving record.

No action 
The fine was issued in error. The fine will be cancelled, and you do not have to pay. It will not appear on your driving record (if applicable).

Cancelled 
The issuing authority has requested the fine be withdrawn.

If you disagree with our decision

If you disagree with the outcome of your review, your can:

• submit a new request for review if you have new or extra information that you have not provided to us, or
• apply to have your matter heard in court. Learn about the process to go to court.