South Australian motorists could soon see an end to surprise parking fines arriving in the mail, with the State Government announcing plans to ban councils from issuing fines without first leaving a physical notice on the vehicle.
The proposed changes would mean council parking inspectors must attach a ticket or written notification to a vehicle, or hand it directly to the driver, rather than relying on camera footage to issue fines days or weeks later.
The announcement follows growing scrutiny of the City of Adelaide’s AI-assisted Park Safe program, with reports that approximately one in four challenged fines issued through the system are being withdrawn.
Since the technology was introduced, almost 70,000 parking fines have been issued using the council’s AI-assisted vehicles.
The number has increased significantly in recent years, from 2,508 fines in 2022–23 to 31,373 in 2024–25. A further 27,104 fines were issued in the first three quarters of 2025–26.
The Park Safe vehicles currently monitor bus zones, no-stopping zones, yellow edge lines, taxi zones, permit zones and parking on Park Lands.
The City of Adelaide has also indicated plans to expand the technology to monitor paid parking bays and time-limited free parking spaces.
Similar systems have been proposed by the Mitcham, Salisbury, Burnside and Mount Barker councils.
Under the proposed reforms, councils would no longer be able to routinely issue parking fines using mobile camera footage without an officer attending the vehicle and providing physical notification.
The changes are designed to give drivers the opportunity to check nearby parking signs, photograph their vehicle’s position and gather evidence at the time of an alleged offence.
A City of Adelaide council report has previously identified that fines issued through Park Safe can take more than a week to reach a vehicle’s registered owner, potentially allowing motorists to repeat the same parking offence before receiving their first notice.
Premier Peter Malinauskas said the changes were intended to improve transparency in parking enforcement.
“If a council wants to fine someone for a parking offence, it should give them a ticket at the time.”
“When motorists receive a fine in the mail weeks later issued through AI-assisted technology, the opportunity to understand why they’ve been fined and gather evidence if they want to challenge it is lost.”
The Government plans to introduce the changes through amendments to the Expiation of Offences Regulations 2026, under the Expiation of Offences Act 1996.
Limited exemptions would apply where providing a physical notice could put council parking officers at risk.
Importantly, the reforms would not prevent councils from enforcing parking restrictions or issuing fines for offences. Instead, they would change how motorists must be notified.
The new requirements would apply to parking and stopping expiation notices issued by local councils.
The Government has not yet confirmed when the changes will take effect.
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