Have you ever felt unjustly fined for parking just a little too long? Did you have a good reason but you didn’t have an opportunity to voice them? Have you found it too daunting to front up in court to challenge a parking infringement?

Your prayers have been heard. Parramatta City Council will be the first to introduce its local appeals panel (formally known as the Parking Infringements Adjudication Panel). This Panel has been set up to hear genuine grievances from the public who has received a Council fine.

The three-person panel, comprising of two residents and one senior Council staff member, will be able to provide the first recourse for those who wish to have their parking infringement notices reviewed by an independent body.

While there will always be some discretion extended by the three person panel, this panel is not a “get-out-scott-free” mechanism. Instead, every appeal will be addressed on its own merits.

As part of the normal process, people with objections to fines can also still have the matter heard by the State Debt Recovery Office. This means there are effectively three levels of appeals available to the public: Parramatta’s appeals panel, the State Debt Recovery Office, and finally the local courts.

Parramatta’s local appeals panel is part of Council’s recently adopted Parking Enforcement Policy. Parramatta’s Community Safety Officers also had their operational protocols reviewed and reformed, including encouraging the Officers to exercise discretion whether or not to issue parking fines.

Any Parramatta residents interested in applying for a position on Council’s local appeals panel (Adjudication Panel) can e-mail their application to This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it