The New South Wales government has been forced to cancel 33,121 Covid restriction-related fines after a court case found they were too vague.
On Tuesday Revenue NSW announced it had cancelled the Covid-era fines, which is about about half of the total number of fines issued by the government for breaches of Public Health Orders during the height of pandemic restrictions.
Revenue NSW said it had withdrawn the fines after government lawyers conceded in court on Tuesday that two test cases brought before the Supreme court on Tuesday by the Redfern Legal Centre were invalid.
“This decision does not mean the offences were not committed,” a spokesperson for Revenue NSW said.
“A total of 33,121 fines will be withdrawn, which is around half of the total number of 62,138 Covid-19 related fines issued.
The remaining 29,017 Covid-19 fines will still be required to be paid if not already resolved. They are not affected by this decision.”
The agency said the withdrawn fines relate to two types of fines – failing to comply with a noticed direction for an individual, and a company.
More to come
