ACT Fines: Access Canberra Notices, Management Plans, Waivers and Court Enforcement

Access Canberra is the public face for Australian Capital Territory infringement notices, but the Road Transport (General) Act 1999 lets a person pay, dispute liability, apply for an infringement notice management plan, or apply for a waiver instead of simply paying the stated penalty.

Information last verified 27 September 2026 against the Road Transport (General) Act 1999 (ACT), republished 26 November 2025, and the Crimes (Sentence Administration) Act 2005 (ACT), republished 16 April 2026.

This article covers traffic and parking infringement notices under the Road Transport (General) Act 1999 (ACT) and, separately, fines a court actually imposes under Chapter 6A of the Crimes (Sentence Administration) Act 2005 (ACT). It does not cover fines in other Australian states or territories. For New South Wales, see the NSW fines guide.

Who Handles Fines in the ACT

Access Canberra is the public-facing service for paying an infringement notice and general enquiries, though the Road Transport (General) Act 1999 itself defines an administering authority that varies by offence type, and a separate road transport authority responsible for licence and registration suspension. Fines a magistrate actually imposes after a conviction, rather than an unpaid infringement notice, are enforced under Chapter 6A of the Crimes (Sentence Administration) Act 2005 (ACT), a materially different track with its own escalation ladder described below.

Receiving an Infringement Notice and Reminder Notices

Within 28 days of an infringement notice being served, section 26 requires the recipient to do one of: pay the stated penalty; apply to enter or add to an infringement notice management plan; apply to waive the penalty; apply for withdrawal; give an infringement notice declaration naming the actual offender; or give written notice disputing liability.

If none of this happens within 28 days, or an extension lapses, a reminder notice issues under section 27, adding a prescribed reminder notice service cost to the amount owed. The person then has a further 28 days from the reminder notice to take one of the same six actions under section 28. Only after that second 28 day period, and only if nothing is done, does the suspension process described below begin.

Disputing Liability Is Not the Same as Electing to Go to Court

A person who wants to contest an infringement notice gives written notice disputing liability under section 51, within the same 28 day windows, setting out the grounds relied on. This works differently from New South Wales, where the alleged offender actively elects to have a court decide the matter. Under section 53, once liability is disputed, the administering authority decides whether to prosecute, and may lay an information in the Magistrates Court within 60 days of receiving the dispute notice. The authority must discontinue a live prosecution if, before the hearing, the person pays the penalty, enters a management plan, or adds the offence to an existing plan, plus pays the prosecution costs incurred to that point.

No provision was found in this Act stating that contesting an infringement notice risks a higher penalty than the notice amount, unlike New South Wales's explicit warning for electing to go to court there. Ordinary court sentencing principles would still apply if a Magistrates Court prosecution results in a finding of guilt, but readers should not assume the ACT process carries the same stated higher-penalty risk as NSW's court election.

Hardship: Infringement Notice Management Plans and Waivers

Division 3.2A of the Road Transport (General) Act creates an infringement notice management plan, a genuine hardship in kind option built into the traffic Act itself rather than a separate scheme. An individual, or a corporation for instalments only, can apply to discharge the penalty by instalments, or by participating in an approved community work or social development program.

The application must set out financial circumstances and, for the work or program option, the person's relevant circumstances, which section 21A defines as mental illness or mental disorder; disability, disease or illness; addiction to drugs, alcohol or another substance; family violence; homelessness, or living in crisis, transitional or supported accommodation; or anything else prescribed by regulation. For the work or program option, financial circumstances alone can also be enough. Approval of the work or program route needs the responsible director general to agree, based on financial circumstances, relevant circumstances and suitability, and the program itself must already be on the director general's approved list. An instalment plan is a right, not a discretion, for the holder of a current prescribed hardship card; for everyone else it depends on financial circumstances.

Division 3.2B lets the administering authority waive a penalty as the true last resort, closer to a write off. A waiver must be allowed if the person lacks and is unlikely to gain the ability to pay, relevant circumstances exist, enforcement action has failed or is unlikely to succeed, and the person is not suitable for the community work or social development program option, which the Act treats as the option to rule out before a waiver, and allowing the waiver is consistent with any guidelines made under section 31I.

This management plan and waiver scheme, on its face, covers traffic and parking infringement notices under this particular Act. Whether an equivalent exists for other kinds of ACT infringement notices was not confirmed in the research behind this article, so a reader with a non-traffic ACT infringement notice should confirm their options directly with the relevant administering authority rather than assume this scheme applies.

What Happens If You Do Not Pay a Traffic or Parking Infringement Notice

After both the initial notice and the reminder notice have run their course with no payment, management plan, waiver or dispute, the road transport authority issues a suspension notice under section 44 (for an offence involving a registrable or rail vehicle), giving at least 10 days before the suspension takes effect. On the suspension date, a driver licence is suspended if the person holds one; if not, or if the licence is already suspended, vehicle registration is suspended if the person is responsible for the vehicle; in any other case, the road transport authority suspends the person's right to drive that vehicle or any vehicle in the ACT, or everyone's right to drive that vehicle. A parallel process under section 44A applies to noncompliance with an infringement notice management plan itself, using the same 10 day minimum notice and the same licence or driving right suspension outcome. Suspension lifts on payment, waiver, discharge, entering (or adding the fine to) a management plan, or, for the management plan track, resuming compliance; a registration suspension is also revoked if the vehicle is transferred to someone else and the person no longer has any interest in it, and a right to seek a review of a suspension exists under section 48.

No garnishee, property seizure or imprisonment provision appears anywhere in this Act's infringement notice enforcement division. For this notice type, the escalation genuinely stops at suspension of a licence, vehicle registration or right to drive.

Court-Imposed Fines: A Separate, Tougher Enforcement Ladder

A fine a court actually imposes after a conviction follows Chapter 6A of the Crimes (Sentence Administration) Act 2005 instead, and the ladder here is considerably longer. It runs from a default notice and reminder notice, through reporting the fine to the road transport authority, a financial circumstances examination by notice or, if needed, warrant, a fine enforcement order made by the Magistrates Court, an earnings redirection order or financial institution deduction order, and a property seizure order. As an alternative to a fine enforcement order, the court may make a voluntary community work order, which discharges the fine at $37.50 for each hour of work performed, but only if the defaulter agrees and has not been convicted of a personal violence offence.

As a last resort, the Magistrates Court can order imprisonment under sections 116ZK to 116ZN, but only if satisfied that all appropriate enforcement action has been taken with no real likelihood of payment, and the fine has not been remitted. The rate is one day of imprisonment for every $300, or part of $300, of the outstanding fine for an adult, capped at 6 months; for a young fine defaulter it is one day for every $500, or part of $500, capped at 7 days. Imprisonment discharges the fine at the same rate, serving the full 6 months (7 days for a young fine defaulter) discharges the whole outstanding fine, and the person must be released immediately once the outstanding amount is paid in full.

This is a genuine, confirmed difference from New South Wales, which abolished imprisonment for fine default outright: the ACT still allows it, but only for court-imposed fines under this Act, never for an ordinary traffic or parking infringement notice, which stops at suspension as described above.

Penalty Units and Current Amounts

The ACT's general purpose penalty unit, set under section 133 of the Legislation Act 2001, is $160 for an individual and $810 for a corporation. The Attorney-General reviews this figure at least once every 4 years, so unlike Victoria's fee ladder, which is adjusted every July, the ACT figure is a flat amount that only changes periodically. A reminder notice service cost and specific infringement notice dollar penalties are set at the regulation level rather than in the Act itself, so a reader should confirm the exact figure that applies to a specific offence with Access Canberra.

Recent Reforms

The Road Transport (Safety and Traffic Management) (Validation) Amendment Bill 2026 was passed by the Legislative Assembly on 17 September 2026 and, as of 27 September 2026, was awaiting notification on the ACT Legislation Register; it commences on the day after it is notified. Once in force, it treats the Acusensus Heads-Up JR-DD1 camera as properly approved as a seatbelt detection device for the period 3 November 2025 to 7 September 2026, and validates anything done in that period that would have been valid had the approval been properly made. A reader with a seatbelt camera infringement notice from that period can check the ACT Legislation Register for whether the Act has been notified.

See also mobile phone detection cameras in Australia.

For the hub covering fine enforcement across every Australian state and territory, see Australia fines and infringement enforcement.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does the ACT have a Work and Development Order like other Australian states?

For traffic and parking infringement notices, yes in substance. Division 3.2A of the Road Transport (General) Act 1999 lets a person discharge an infringement notice by instalments or by an approved community work or social development program instead of paying in cash. It is not called a Work and Development Order and it applies only to traffic and parking infringement notices, not to every ACT fine.

Can you go to prison for an unpaid ACT infringement notice?

Not for an ordinary traffic or parking infringement notice. That ladder tops out at suspension of a licence, vehicle registration or right to drive. Imprisonment remains available only for a fine a court has actually imposed, under the Crimes (Sentence Administration) Act 2005, as a last resort once all other enforcement action has failed, at one day per $300 of unpaid fine for an adult, capped at 6 months.

How long do I have to respond to an ACT infringement notice?

28 days to pay, dispute liability, or apply for a management plan or waiver. If nothing is done, a reminder notice issues and a further 28 days runs. Only after both windows pass does the road transport authority issue a suspension notice, which itself gives at least 10 days before a licence, registration or right to drive is actually suspended.

What happens if I dispute an ACT infringement notice?

You give written notice disputing liability under section 51. The administering authority then decides whether to prosecute in the Magistrates Court, within 60 days, rather than the matter being automatically listed for you. This is different from New South Wales, where the alleged offender actively elects to go to court.

What is a voluntary community work order in the ACT?

It is an order under sections 116ZE to 116ZG of the Crimes (Sentence Administration) Act 2005 that discharges a court-imposed fine at $37.50 for each hour of approved work performed, available for court-imposed fines rather than ordinary traffic or parking infringement notices. The Magistrates Court can make it only if the fine defaulter agrees and has not been convicted of a personal violence offence.