An unpaid parking fine can lead to a range of enforcement actions including the cancellation of your vehicle registration.  If your vehicle registration is cancelled, your compulsory third-party insurance (CTP) is also voided.  Driving an unregistered vehicle endangers the lives and livelihoods of not only the driver but also countless third-parties (pedestrians, cyclists, property owners).

Have you moved recently?  Unless your mailing address is up to date with the motor-registry, you may have missed that parking ticket or other traffic fine.  In most cases these days, you don't get a ticket on the windscreen.  Automated cameras are used for speeding, red-lights and parking infringements.

If you missed the notice in the mail, you have no idea that months have passed since the ticket, and your rego has been cancelled.  You are now driving an unregistered vehicle and your livelihood and the lives of everyone around you are in grave danger - and you have no idea.

The rego cancellation penalty, endangers the lives of countless individuals, unrelated to the offence.  The Fines Act vehicle rego cancellation penalty is disproportionate to the infringement, and endangers the entire community.

But if my mail was returned to sender and I had no idea, surely I didn't "get served" with the infringement notice?  They can't take action unless I've been served right?  Well, they can.  Even if the parking infringement notice was returned to sender, under section 126A of the fines act, returned mail has no impact.  You are deemed to have been served.  You still have no idea whats happening.

In fact, section 67(3) of the Fines Act allows for the cancellation of your registration and third-party insurance without notice to you whatsoever.

If your contact details are correct with the ATO, Centrelink, or other authorities, it makes no difference, they'll only send notices to the address on file with the motor-registry.  Even though legislation allows them to use other contact information, they don't.  Not even your phone number.  If your vehicle is registered under a company name they don't even look at the company's registered address in the public ASIC record.

Australia has legislation at odds with the public interest here.  Rego-cancellation should not be a penalty - for anything.  It impacts more lives than that of the offender.  

How can anyone benefit from more unregistered vehicles on the roads?  Well yes, there is revenue raising here too, but it comes at the high cost of community safety.

Sign this petition to change the "Fines Act" to remove rego cancellation as a penalty for unpaid fines.