Council exploring parking infringement refund scheme
Published on 18 February 2026
Mansfield Shire Council is exploring the rollout of a parking infringement refund scheme after identifying a historical administrative issue that has resulted in an over-collection of parking infringement penalties in Mansfield Shire.
For some time, Council has been operating under the information that the Road Safety Act 1986 allows local government officers to charge between 0.2 and 0.5 penalty units (currently equating to $41.00 and $102.00 respectively) for 11 specific categories of parking infringements.
While this remains true, a Council resolution is required to collect the higher amount. Without such a resolution, penalties are supposed to be set at the default rate of 0.2 penalty units.
Unfortunately, the need for a formal resolution was not adequately communicated to councils in Victoria in 2009 or in 2019 when the guidelines were changed.
Mayor Cr Steve Rabie said this Council was committed to good governance.
“As soon as we’ve become aware of this legacy issue, Council has proactively taken the first steps required to make sure we fix things as soon as possible to make them fair, transparent and to do so quickly,” said Cr Rabie.
If you have overpaid on a parking infringement penalty in Mansfield Shire, Mansfield Shire Council has a record of the incident and will be reaching out to you to issue a refund in the coming months.
On current information, this news may impact up to 765 parking infringement penalties dating back as far as 2009, with an estimated $34,588 collected above the default penalty rate. Additional costs of up to $10,000 may also be paid, such as late fees and legal costs. Council has sought legal advice to verify the information upon which these figures were estimated to ensure the issue is addressed fairly.
Mayor Cr Steve Rabie said that this Council was committed to rectifying legacy issues as they arise.
“We are not scared to address errors. We’ve identified an issue and we will fix it. I have every confidence that the current team will work quickly to rectify these legacy issues. We know the community trusts us and we will work to maintain that trust.
“If this has affected anybody – we are sorry.
“This is a disappointing situation because it’s an avoidable situation. These fines are legitimate fines against legitimate parking infringements. Council was permitted to issue infringement penalties at the rate they went out. It’s a small, easy to make and easy to avoid administrative oversight.
“It’s a small amount of money over many years. Mansfield Shire Council has not sought to make money on parking fines – we use fines to ensure fair use of parking resources for the community as a whole.”
Mayor Cr Rabie has stressed the need for clear communication between all levels of government.
“When there are changes to state or federal government policy, and these changes impact local government, they need to be communicated clearly. They can’t be hidden in emails unrelated to the change, they can’t be buried deep within one of the hundreds of government gazettes that go out each year.”
More details on the parking infringement refund scheme will be announced once the ongoing investigation into the matter is completed. If you are eligible for a refund, Mansfield Shire Council will contact you in due course to arrange it.