Dispute a fine in court

If you believe you were incorrectly issued a fine by a police officer, transport inspector or traffic camera, you can dispute it in court.

You must dispute a fine within 28 days of the date of the infringement notice or you will face penalties for an overdue fine. Do not pay the fine and keep a copy for your records.

You will not receive a mail reminder to pay or dispute your fine, but if you have signed up to receive email reminders you will receive an email reminder 5 days before it's due.

If you don’t dispute a fine within 28 days of the date on the notice:

  • the State Penalties Enforcement Registry may take enforcement action to recover the amount of the fine, including additional referral fees, from you
  • demerit points will be added to your traffic record from the day the offence was committed.

To dispute a fine:

You can then scan the form and send by email to courtelections@treasury.qld.gov.au or by mail to:

Queensland Revenue Office
GPO Box 1447
BRISBANE  QLD  4001

Before deciding to go to court to dispute an infringement notice, please consider the following:

Representing yourself or engaging legal representation

You don’t have to have a lawyer when you go to court. If you want, you can represent yourself in any of Queensland’s courts, or choose to engage legal representation.

If you chose to represent yourself, before you go to court make sure you understand the facts and read any documentation you have which may be relevant to your case. You may have to present this information in a clear and concise way in court.

Presenting your case in court

Plan what you are going to say and decide on any evidence you want to present to support your case. You will also need to decide whether you are going to call witnesses to support your case. Make copies of any important documents you may be planning to mention or present as evidence in court—you may need to give copies to the court and the prosecution.

Forms and fees

You may need to file legal documents and forms relevant to your case—for example, to summons a witness to attend court—and there may be fees associated with this.

You may need to pay the offender levy

An offender levy is an administrative fee that helps pay for the cost of law enforcement and administration. This levy is applied to any offender (other than a child) sentenced in the Supreme, District or Magistrates court, whether or not a conviction is recorded. The levy ranges depending if the sentence is imposed by the Magistrates, Supreme or District Court.

Find more information about the offender levy.

Other fines

To dispute fines where the offence was not detected by a traffic camera, police officer or transport inspector, you must contact the issuing authority.

For example, local councils issue parking fines. To dispute this type of fine you must contact the local council that issued the fine.

Valid position titles of organisation representatives

To elect a court hearing for an infringement issued to an organisation, you must hold a valid position title.

Court election submissions that do not meet the requirements will not be accepted and will be returned to your organisation for further action.

  • Position titles of organisation representatives are prescribed under section 114(9) of the Transport Operations (Road Use Management) Act 1995 (TORUM).
  • Valid position titles include:
    • Director
    • Manager
    • Secretary.
  • Position titles that include the terms 'Executive Officer' or 'Chief Officer' can also be accepted, as these positions hold a managerial function.
  • This is a legislative requirement and ensures the corporate representative holds a position of authority within the organisation.

These lists provide examples of valid and invalid position titles. These are not complete lists.

Valid position titles

  • Director
  • Manager
  • Infringement Manager
  • Fleet Manager
  • Finance Manager
  • Operations Manager
  • Asset Manager
  • Secretary (for example, Company Secretary)
  • Chief Executive Officer
  • Chief Financial Officer
  • Executive Officer
  • Executive Fleet Officer
  • Chief Infringement Officer
  • Chief Officer

Invalid position titles

  • Authorised Officer
  • Administration Officer
  • Infringement Clerk
  • Company Clerk
  • Authorised Clerk
  • Infringement Officer
  • Fleet Officer
  • Officer
  • Clerk
  • Clerical Secretary
  • Office Secretary
  • Administration Secretary
  • Personal Assistant
  • Executive Assistant