On this page Content components Visit our Understand your parking fine page to understand why you were fined. Look at any photos taken of the infringement. This will help you decide what action to take. You may appeal your parking fine if you satisfy one of the 5 reasons below and can provide proof to back up your claim.You must appeal within 21 days of the issue date on the fine. After this, the fine will be referred to Fines Victoria to manage or referred to our legal team to start legal proceedings.You can appeal only once per fine, in line with the Infringements Act 2006.Please be aware that providing false or misleading documents is a separate offence under the Act and may lead to prosecution or referral to Victoria Police.Reasons to appeal a parking fineYou can appeal your fine if one of these circumstances apply to you and you can provide evidence. The grounds for withdrawal are set by the Victorian Government. Exceptional circumstances You experienced an unexpected or unavoidable event, such as a medical emergency. You can appeal your parking fine if you experienced an unexpected or unavoidable event, such as:a medical emergencyyou temporarily parked a damaged vehicle directly after an accident or your vehicle broke down.You need to attach documentation that supports your exceptional circumstance and is relevant to the time and date of your fine.Documents that help us review your fine include:a current accessible, residential or traders parking permita relevant temporary parking permita purchased parking ticketa photo of reported faulty metermedical evidence to demonstrate how the medical emergency resulted in the offencea receipt from a mechanic or tow trucka letter on company letterhead that verifies your exceptional circumstance. Special circumstances Ongoing circumstances led to your fine, such as homelessness, disability or family violence. You can appeal your parking fine if any of the following reduced your ability to understand or control the conduct that resulted in the offence:an intellectual disabilitya mental illness or disordera serious addiction to drugs or alcoholhomelessnessfamily violence.You can appeal your parking fine if you can't deal with your fines because of severe, disabling, long-term circumstances that relate mostly to issues other than financial hardship.In your appeal, provide evidence from a qualified medical practitioner, social worker or drug and alcohol counsellor that:confirms the special circumstancesexplains how this significantly reduced your capacity to understand or control the behaviour that led to your fine.For more details on special circumstances and what evidence to provide visit the Fines Victoria website.If you need help applying, your health practitioner or case worker can apply on your behalf.Other options for special circumstancesIf your fine resulted from family violence, find out if you're eligible for support through the Family Violence Scheme on the Fines Victoria website.For a different way to address your fine, such as counselling or unpaid work, find out if you're eligible for the Work and Development Permit on the Fines Victoria website. The fine is contrary to law The fine was issued unlawfully or the officer who issued the fine acted outside their authority. You can appeal your parking fine if you believe the fine is not valid (for example, you received a fine for parking in a loading zone on a Saturday, but the zone rules only apply Monday to Friday).In your appeal it's helpful to include a photo of the sign where your parking fine was issued. Unaware of fine You didn't know about your parking fine and missed the due date. If your fine arrived by mail and you didn't know about it until after the due date, you can apply to have the extra costs removed.You need to appeal within 14 days of finding out about the fine. Provide evidence to support your claim that you were unaware; for example:a VicRoads address change confirmationa report about your mail being stolena copy of your passport or boarding pass showing that you were overseasan invoice from a removalist showing that you moved house.If your appeal is successful, you'll have another 21 days to pay your fine and you won't have to pay any extra costs such as late fees.You can't appeal your fine for this reason if you moved house but did not notify VicRoads of your new address within 14 days of moving. Mistaken identity The fine was issued to the wrong registration number. If the fine was issued to the right car, but you weren’t driving it, you can nominate the responsible person. Submit a 'Nominate the responsible driver' form below. Expand all Collapse all Nominate the responsible driverYou can nominate the responsible driver if the fine was issued to the wrong person.If you weren’t the person who had the vehicle at the time of the offence, you need to say who was driving so the fine can be re-issued to them. You should only nominate if:someone else was the driver responsible for the vehicle at the time of the offenceyou sold the vehicle to someone else before the offence dateyou got rid of the vehicle before the offence dateyou believe the vehicle or number plates displayed on the vehicle which committed the offence were stolen or cloned.Note: If you want to nominate, do not pay the fine even if the responsible driver is a family member. Wait for the fine to be re-issued to the person you nominated. To nominate the responsible driver, submit the form below. You will need to provide evidence to support your claim.Nominate the responsible driverReasons not accepted for appealWe can't withdraw your parking fine if you:tell us this is your first offence but don't have a valid reason to appealmisread or didn’t see the parking signwere delayed at an appointmentwere in a hurrycouldn’t find anywhere else to parkwere dropping children off late to schoolmoved your vehicle from one parking space to another in the same parking area (an area controlled by the same parking sign)parked for a very short timedidn't display a valid parking permitbelieved that because the ticket parking machine was broken there were no restrictionsleft the vehicle to get cash or ran out of cash to pay the parking feestopped to make a quick delivery or let a passenger in or outleft the vehicle because you or a passenger needed to use the toiletstopped to answer your mobile phonemade an honest mistakestopped beside a parked vehicle waiting for another driver to return and drive away.Appeal your parking fineYou may appeal your parking fine if you satisfy one of the 5 reasons above and can provide proof to back up your claim. Please note: you can appeal only once per parking fine, so make sure you choose the right reason for appeal. This is in line with the Infringements Act 2006.Appeal your parking fineIf you were not in possession or control of the vehicle at the time of the offence, you can nominate the responsible driver to let us know who was driving.What happens nextIf we need more information from you, we will request it in writing. You will have 14 days from receiving the request to provide the additional information.We assess your application in line with the Infringements Act 2006 and the Attorney-General’s Guidelines to the Infringements Act 2006. These outline what evidence is required under different circumstances.Expect it to take up to 90 days for us to assess your appeal. We will let you know the outcome of your appeal in writing.Your fine will be on hold while we assess your appeal. This means the due date doesn't apply and you won't have to pay any extra fees.We can't review your fine over the phone, but if you have any questions you can call us on (03) 9278 4444. We won't accept rude, abusive or disrespectful comments.Depending on the ground you applied under, we can decide to:withdraw the fine and take no further action against youwithdraw the fine and issue an official warning insteadwaive the penalty reminder notice feeapprove a payment arrangementconfirm our decision to issue the finerefer the matter to the Magistrates Court, or the Children’s Court if you’re under 18.You will receive correspondence advising you of our decision. If your application is not successful, this correspondence will tell you how much you need to pay, when you need to pay it be and any other options available to you.More informationTo pay your parking fine or find out if you're eligible to set up a payment plan, visit our Pay a parking fine page.If you lost your infringement notice and need to know your infringement number, call us on (03) 9278 4444 with your car registration number.For information on reasons you can appeal a parking fine visit the Fines Victoria website.
