Special circumstances

Reasons we may consider leniency

• I was involved in a medical emergency at the time of the offence.

Consideration for these claims is balanced with the potential safety impacts on other road users.

For an event to be considered a medical emergency, there must be an immediate threat to someone in the vehicle that requires urgent medical intervention.

It is unlikely that leniency will be given in circumstances where you have:

• been notified of an emergency, and are
• are travelling to attend to the person involved in the emergency.

Evidence required

You need to provide proof of medical treatment or documentation of the medical emergency, such as:

• an ambulance record
• hospital admission forms, or
• other reasonable evidence that demonstrates how the medical emergency contributed to the offence.

• when reviewing your fine, Revenue NSW will take into account your personal circumstances. This means that you should tell us if there were extenuating circumstances that resulted in your receiving the fine. We use the Attorney General's Guidelines on personal or financial hardship to help guide out decisions. 
• I have a clear driving record (CDR) and was issued a fine for an unrestrained passenger who was 16 or over at the time of the offence.

Examples of personal circumstances include: 

• trauma
• homelessness
• mental ill-health
• cognitive disability, or
• inability to control offending behaviour.

You will need to provide supporting documentation from a medical practitioner, support agency or government department.

We do not consider a clear driving record for offences where there is a high risk to public safety. These offences include:

• red light offences
• mobile phone offences
• high speed offences
• school zone offences.

Other traffic offences, where safety issues were identified at the time of the offence, such as:

• those which required a person or driver to take evasive action, or
• where an accident was caused.

You can still request a review if you feel the reason the offence occurred is of an exceptional nature, such as:

• a life-threatening emergency occurring to a person in the car which required urgent intervention from medical professionals. 

You will need to supply documentary evidence with your request. We may not give leniency if the impact or risk to others is greater than the opportunity to take action safely.

 It is unlikely that leniency would be given where you are travelling to support a person involved in an emergency.

If you are experiencing serious financial, medical, or other personal issues where you are unable to resolve your fine, you can ask for a payment plan. You may also:

• apply for a work and development order, or
• apply to have your debt written-off, or
• apply for 50 per cent reduction in the fine amount.

You can visit our website for further information such as eligibility criteria.

Reasons we may consider leniency

• mental/intellectual or medical illness
• Inability to control offending behaviour
• cognitive disability
• experiencing homelessness.

Evidence required

A report from a medical practitioner that supports your claim. You, or someone you have authorised to act on your behalf, may apply for assistance with a payment because you are suffering hardship. Hardship may be established on a case-by-case basis when we undertake a fair and transparent review of your circumstances. You may be asked to supply documents or other evidence to support your case.

Reasons we may consider leniency

I am suffering from a condition, trauma or are experiencing hardship for another reason, and am unable to resolve this fine.

Evidence required

Documentation that will support your claim of financial, medical, and domestic hardship. This may include, but is not limited to:

• copies of your payslips
• Centrelink statements or other evidence of your income copies of your bank account, credit union or building society statements for the last three months
• report from a doctor or psychologist explaining any medical condition
• report from a case worker, or other professional confirming domestic problems
• police reports or court documents to confirm your situation. 

Reasons we may consider leniency

Revenue NSW can assist victim survivors of financial abuse or domestic violence where there is a link between their personal circumstances and the offence committed. 

Applications will need to include supporting documentation though we do understand that there may be instances where this is difficult to obtain.

Please contact us or have an advocate  contact us on your behalf and we can discuss the most relevant information needed in your situation. 

Evidence required

You will not need to include a detailed description of the abuse, only enough to help us understand your experience and how it relates to your fines. Outcomes are decided on a case-by-case basis. We handle all information confidentially and in accordance with the Privacy and Personal Information Protection Act 1998 and the Health Records and Information Privacy Act 2002.

Reasons we may consider leniency

The person who committed the offence is now deceased.

Evidence required

When submitting a review, documentation is required, such as a copy of:

• the death certificate issued by the Principal Registrar of Births, Deaths and Marriages;
• the Certificate of Death issued by a medical practitioner;
• any document issued by a legal practitioner, police officer or coroner which refers to the death;
• any other documentary evidence.