NSW to withdraw all COVID-19 fines, refund millions to people who already paid

The New South Wales government will withdraw the more than 20,000 COVID-19 fines that remain outstanding and refund millions of dollars to residents who have already paid one.

The move comes two years after 36,000 of the 62,000 pandemic-era fines were scratched, following a Supreme Court ruling that they were invalid because they were too vague.

The state government had not been drawn on calls to withdraw the remaining penalty notices, but today announced that they would, in fact, be scrapped.

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The decision will see 23,539 fines cancelled, but will have no impact on any that had already been taken to the courts.

Revenue NSW will refund a combined $5.5 million to residents who had already partially or fully paid one of those fines.

The Department of Customer Service said that, while the fines not impacted by the 2022 court ruling had clearer explanations of the offences they involved, they still might be vague enough to be ruled invalid.

"Since receiving legal representations and further considering the descriptions in the remaining penalty notices it is appropriate to withdraw the notices for these 23,539 COVID-19 fines," the department said in a statement.

"Ultimately, the Commissioner of Fines Administration considers the COVID-19-related penalty notices contained insufficient details which may render them technically deficient and place their validity in doubt."

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The decision also follows another Supreme Court ruling, made in January but for which the reasons weren't published until last month, about a $3000 COVID-19 fine issued to NSW woman Angelika Kosciolek for leaving Sydney without a permit.

While the court didn't rule the fine invalid (as Revenue NSW had already withdrawn the fine, refunded the money paid with interest, and admitted the fine was invalid on a different ground), it did rule all COVID-19 penalty notices needed to state what offence they had been issued for.

That prompted Redfern Legal Centre, which had brought that case as well as its 2022 predecessor, to call for all remaining pandemic fines to be withdrawn.

Revenue NSW will contact impacted residents who are owed a refund.

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