LawAccess NSW > Representing Yourself > Fines > Have you got a fine? > Paying the fine

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Paying the fine

This section covers:

Paying in full

How to pay

Your fine should give you information about the different ways it can be paid. Most fines can be paid:

online
on the phone
by BPAY
by post
at an Australia Post Office, or
using the Service NSW app.

You should keep a record of the payment and any receipt that you are given.

When to pay

When you receive a fine, it may have a due date, which is normally 21 days after the date the fine was served.

Once the 21 days are up, a penalty reminder notice will be sent out to you. You will have 28 days from the date of the penalty reminder notice to either pay, elect to go to court, name the person responsible or ask for a review.

If you don't do anything by the due date of the penalty reminder notice, enforcement action will be taken against you.

Alert Icon If your fine has reached the enforcement stage, Revenue NSW will add enforcement costs of $65.00, or $25.00 if you are under 18 (as at July 2019) to the amount owing.

What happens after you pay a fine

If you pay a fine for a traffic offence, it can have an effect on your licence and driving record.

For more information, see Consequences of paying a fine.

Paying by instalments

How to pay by instalments

When you receive a fine, you can make part payments, of at least $40.00 per fortnight, right up until the due date of the penalty reminder notice. If the full amount is not paid by the due date of the penalty reminder notice, Revenue NSW can send you an overdue fine.

Once you receive an overdue fine, you must apply to Revenue NSW if you want to pay by instalments. Revenue NSW will add enforcement costs of $65.00 or $25.00 if you are under 18 years (as at July 2019) to the amount owing.

You can apply to pay by instalments:

online,
by telephone or
by completing a pay by instalment application.

Sample: Sample Payment by Instalments Application-Individuals Adobe Acrobat PDF icon (206 kb) or text only version

Sample: Sample Payment by Instalments Application-Companies Adobe Acrobat PDF icon (179 kb) or text only version

For more information on these options, see the Revenue NSW website.

If while you are paying off your fine you receive another fine, the new fine will automatically be added to your existing payment plan. The number of individual instalments you will need to make to pay off both fines will increase but the dollar amount of each instalment will not. If you do not want this to happen, you should contact Revenue NSW.

If you are on Centrelink benefits

If you are on a Centrelink benefit, such as Newstart or Austudy, you can arrange for instalments to be deducted from your payment through Centrepay even before the due date of the penalty reminder notice.

For more information, see the Revenue NSW website.

If you are on a Centrelink benefit and you arrange for instalments to be deducted from your benefit before the due date on your penalty notice or your penalty reminder notice, you will not have to pay the usual fee of $65.00 (as at July 2019) for enforcement costs.

If you arrange to pay by Centrepay prior to the due date on your penalty notice or penalty reminder notice, you will not be able to ask for a review or elect to have your matter heard in court.

Sample: Sample early enforcement to pay by instalments - penalty notices (Centrelink customers only) (165 kb) or text only version.