Has your company received a traffic infringement for more than $3,000?

Published on 09 Aug 2024

For some camera-detected traffic offences that occur in a company registered vehicle, the company will receive a fine for over $3,000. This higher amount is to encourage the company to nominate the person who was driving and hold them accountable for the offence and so that demerit points can be applied to their licence.

An authorised officer of the company must nominate the person who was driving.

The company should nominate the driver quickly. Once the fine progresses to Notice of Final Demand stage, it is too late to nominate, and the company will be liable for the fine at the higher amount.

If the nomination is accepted, the fine issued to the company will be withdrawn and a new fine will be issued to the nominated driver at the much lower individual rate.

It is an offence to provide false or misleading information in a nomination statement. The company must ensure only the person in control of the vehicle at the time of the offence is nominated.

The person the company nominates can reject the nomination. If the nomination is rejected, the fine will be reissued to the company. 

Companies that fail to nominate a driver 3 or more times within a 12-month period may be fined more than $22,000. This can happen whether the fines are paid or not.

Not knowing who was driving a company vehicle at the time of the offence is generally not a reasonable excuse for failing to nominate. Companies should ensure they have processes in place and take reasonable steps to identify the driver.