Infringements & Fines

An infringement notice is a penalty for breaking the law. Council issues infringement notices for a number of offences under various legislation.

The best way to avoid a fine is to familiarise yourself with Council’s Local Laws,  road rules in Victoria about parking, and the requirements of Council’s Dog and Cat Control Order 2019.

If you have received an infringement notice, the amount due will be listed on the infringement notice and information about your options included on the back.

Pay an infringement notice

When must payment be made?

Payment must be made by the due date on your infringement notice. If you do not pay by this date, further penalties may apply.

How can payment be made?

In person

At one of Council’s Customer Service Centres. EFTPOS available, major credit cards accepted.

By mail

To Macedon Ranges Shire Council, PO Box 151, Kyneton VIC 3444. Cheques are to be made payable to Macedon Ranges Shire Council. Payment must reach Council no later than the due date.

Online

You can pay the following infringements online with Visa or Mastercard:

I've lost my fine

You may request a copy of the infringement notice to be sent to you.

Email your request to mrsc@mrsc.vic.gov.au including:

  • your contact details (name, address and phone number/email)
  • infringement type (for eg. parking, animal, local law infringement)
  • date of offence (if known)
  • registration of vehicle (for vehicle related fines only).

Alternatively you can call us on (03) 5422 0333 or visit one of our Customer Service Centres to lodge your request.

Nominate a responsible driver

We issue parking infringement notices to the registered owner of the vehicle, as per the registration details held by VicRoads.

If you were not the driver at the time of a parking offence, you may nominate the driver(DOCX, 158KB) / nominate the driver(PDF, 99KB) by completing and returning a signed nomination form.

You can post this form to Macedon Ranges Shire Council, PO BOX 151, Kyneton VIC 3444, or email mrsc@mrsc.vic.gov.au or visit one of our Customer Service Centres.

Once we receive your form, confirmation will be sent to your nominated postal address and an infringement notice re-issued to the nominated party.

Request a photo of your offence

You may request further details including a photo of the offence.

Email your request to mrsc@mrsc.vic.gov.au including your infringement number and contact details. 

Alternatively, you can call us on (03) 5422 0333 or visit one of our Customer Service Centres to lodge your request.

Options for payment plans or extensions

Council payment plan options

If you have received an infringement and cannot pay the full amount by the due date, you can apply to pay by instalments or apply for an extension with Council. If you are eligible you will be able to get either a due date extension or arrange a payment plan.

Your application may be assessed based on your:

  • outstanding infringement amount
  • income
  • financial status
  • payment history
  • if you are a concession or health care card holder
  • financial hardship - refer to Council's Financial Hardship Policy.

Note: You may be required to provide evidence of a valid concession card and may be requested to provide documentation supporting your application.

Your payment plan or extension of time application(DOCX, 160KB) / payment plan or extension of time application(PDF, 76KB) must be made before the infringement due date, in writing, to: Macedon Ranges Shire Council, PO BOX 151, Kyneton VIC 3444, or email mrsc@mrsc.vic.gov.au or visit one of our Customer Service Centres.

Fines Victoria payment arrangement options

If you have received an infringement and cannot pay the full amount by the due date, as an alternative to requesting a payment plan through Council, you may be eligible for a payment arrangement under Part 5 of the Fines Reform Act 2014. Visit Fines Victoria to learn more.

If you choose to make a payment arrangement through Fines Victoria, your infringement will be transferred to Fines Victoria and no longer dealt with by Council.

Infringement review information

By law, if you are the person who has received the infringement notice, you can request an infringement review under one of the following grounds:

Person unaware: you did not know about the fine

You can request a review under this ground if all of the following apply:

  • you found out about the fine within the last 14 days, and
  • the fine was not personally given to you by an officer.

If you moved house but you did not change your authorised address with the relevant agency (for example, VicRoads) within 14 days of moving, your application may not be successful.

Your application may not be successful unless you provide evidence showing you did not know about the fine. This could be a copy of your passport or boarding pass showing you were overseas, an invoice from a removalist showing that you moved house, a VicRoads address change confirmation, or a report about mail theft.

You must submit your application within 14 days of the date you became aware of the fine.

If your application is successful, you will be granted a further 21 days to deal with your fine.

Contrary to law: the fine is invalid or was improperly issued to you

You can apply under this ground if you believe that the enforcement agency's decision to fine you was inconsistent with the law.

For example, the officer who issued the fine acted unlawfully, improperly or outside their authority or the fine does not comply with the legal requirements of an infringement notice.

Mistake of identity: the fine was issued to the wrong person

You can request a review under this ground if you have been incorrectly identified as the person who committed an offence, and you have evidence to support your claim. For example, someone provided your licence or gave your details to council officers, or you have the same name as another person or family member and the wrong person received the fine.

This review ground does not apply if someone else was driving your vehicle at the time of the offence; in this case you would need to nominate another driver. You cannot request a review under this ground if someone else was driving your vehicle. Failing to nominate the responsible person is not a valid reason to apply for mistake of identity.

Exceptional circumstances: the offence occurred due to an extraordinary or unavoidable situation

You should only select this ground if you can show that the offence occurred due to circumstances that were out of the ordinary, unavoidable, or exceptional – such as a medical emergency or a vehicle breakdown.

You may be required to supply evidence to support this ground.

Special circumstances (including Family Violence Scheme)

These circumstances are very specific. You should only select this ground if you committed the offence and can show that at the time of the offence you:

  • had a mental or intellectual disability, disorder, disease or illness
  • had a serious addiction to drugs, alcohol or a volatile substance
  • were homeless
  • were a victim of family violence, or
  • you cannot deal with your fines because of severe disabling long-term circumstances, even if those circumstances did not exist at the time of the offence.

You will need to provide evidence from a qualified practitioner or agency to support your application. For more information on what is required and how to apply, see:  Special Circumstances.

The Family Violence Scheme

If you have been impacted by family violence, the Family Violence Scheme is an option to help victim survivors deal with fines if there is a link between the family violence and their fines.

Further details

Further details regarding Infringement review grounds and options are also available on the  Fines Victoria website.

Request an infringement notice Review

Before applying for an internal review, consider the following information.

You can’t apply for an internal review if:

  • you have paid your fine
  • your fine was issued by a court
  • you are the director of a company and you have been made personally liable for the company’s fine
  • the infringement has been lodged with Fines Victoria (you will need to contact Fines Victoria)
  • your reasons do not satisfy one of the five grounds outlined in the 'Infringement Review Information' above.

If submitting an application for review be sure to include:

  • your application in full (incomplete applications may not be considered)
  • all relevant evidence (for example medical certificates, mechanic invoices, photos etc).
  • a nomination for another driver form (if applicable)
  • a consent form – if applying for an internal review on behalf of someone else (see below).

Submitting an internal review for someone else

We cannot accept applications for an internal review from anyone other than who the fine was issued to. If you are applying for someone else on their behalf you will need to complete a consent form(DOCX, 151KB) / consent form(PDF, 53KB) and lodge this with your application for internal review.

You can mail this form to Macedon Ranges Shire Council, PO BOX 151, Kyneton VIC 3444, or email mrsc@mrsc.vic.gov.au or visit one of our Customer Service Centres.

Apply for a review of your infringement

You can only request one review of your infringement notice, according to the Infringement Act 2006.

To request an internal review, please complete the relevant internal review request form below and submit before the infringement due date.

Certain grounds need to be met to apply for an internal review ('Infringement review information' as outline above). Full details of these grounds are also available on the Fines Victoria website 

For more information, or to request a hard copy form, contact one of our Customer Service Centres.

What happens after you apply?

We will send a written response to your postal address confirming receipt of your application.

The internal review process can take up to 90 days. It may take longer if you are asked to provide additional information. The infringement will be placed on hold during the review process.

If you do not provide enough information, we may contact you for more details before finalising the review of your infringement. If we do not receive this information by the specified date, we will make a decision based on the information we have.

Once a decision has been made, we will send a written response to your postal address notifying you of the outcome.

If the infringement is upheld, we will advise you of a new payment date.

If your application is not successful, you can apply to have your matter heard in the Magistrates' Court – see 'Request matter to be heard in court' section below.

It is important that you provide your most current address and contact details so you can be contacted about your application if required.

If you don’t deal with your fine

If you do not act by the due date on your fine, your fine may progress to the next fine stage resulting in a Penalty Reminder Notice or referral to Fines Victoria (Notice of Final Demand) -  both stages of which accrue additional fees.

A detailed outline of the Fine stages and fees is available on the Fines Victoria website.

Refer matter to Fines Victoria – plus other options and resources

After receiving an infringement notice you can choose to liaise directly with Fines Victoria (as opposed to Council) at any stage of the process.

For further details on your options with Fines Victoria visit the Fines Victoria website.

Fines Victoria are also able to provide information related to:

Request matter to be heard in court

If your fine is at Infringement or Penalty Reminder Notice stage, you can choose to have your matter heard in court. Before you apply to go to court, you may wish to consider requesting a review instead. You may also request further information and photos. If you elect to have your matter heard in court you will no longer be able to request a review.

It is important to note that if the matter becomes a court hearing and you are found guilty of the offence, additional costs may apply.

To request the matter to be heard in court you will need to email mrsc@mrsc.vic.gov.au or visit one of our Customer Service Centres to request a ‘Request a Court Hearing’ form.

Once you receive the form and have completed it, you can post this form to Macedon Ranges Shire Council, PO BOX 151, Kyneton VIC 3444, or email mrsc@mrsc.vic.gov.au or visit one of our Customer Service Centres.

You will then receive a reply from Council’s Senior Proceedings Officer notifying you of the court listing date.

Related Information

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