Local law and animal fines
On this page:
If you breach any state legislation or local law you can be fined. State legistration or local laws breaches can relate to but not limited to animals, unslightly property, littering and dumped rubbish. It is important to familiarise yourself with the Moreland City Council Local Laws, State legislation (e.g. EPA and Animals Act) and information on our responsible pet ownership page to ensure you do not break the law.
Moreland City Council changed its name to Merri-bek City Council on 26 September 2022. Moreland City Council General Local Law 2018 is still valid until a new Local Law is made.
Pay your animal or local laws fine
- You need the 'infringement number' located on your notice.
- You must pay the whole fine and not just a partial amount. If you need to pay in installments please read below.
- You cannot pay the fine if the fine has been referred to the courts for prosecution.
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You can pay your parking fine by phone with a Visa or MasterCard 24 hours a day using our secure automated system.
To pay your parking fine by phone:
- Call 9240 1111 and press 1 to make a payment. Then press 1 to pay 'fines and infringements' and follow the voice prompts.
- You will need to provide the 'Infringement number' located on your notice and your Visa or MasterCard number details.
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You can pay your parking fine by post by:
- Separating the payment slip at the bottom of the notice and mailing it (before the due date) with your cheque or money order to: Merri-bek City Council, Locked Bag 10, Brunswick VIC 3056.
- Make the cheque or money order payable to ‘Merri-bek City Council’ and cross it 'Not negotiable'. Do not include cash in the mail.
We do not provide a receipt for payments received by mail. Please keep the top section of the notice for your records.
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You can pay your parking fine in person by:
- Bringing your fine to a Customer Service Centre before the due date. You can find the locations of our Customer Service Centres on our Contact us page.
- You can pay by Visa or MasterCard, EFTPOS, cheque, money order and cash. The minimum payment for all card transactions is $10 and there is no cash out facility.
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You can pay your parking fine on our eServices website.
Request a payment plan to pay your animal or local laws fine
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You can request to pay your fine through a payment plan if you have either:
- a Pensioner concession card, DVA Gold Card TPI (Total and Permanently Incapacitated), DVA Gold Card WW (War Widow), or Health Care Card
- more than one fine
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A payment plan is a formal agreement with us and is available for a maximum of 6 months.
Missing a payment or not making the initial payment will cause the payment plan to be cancelled. The fine will then proceed through the enforcement process and may incur additional costs.
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Apply online: You can set up a payment plan with us by completing the online Payment Plan Application Form.
Complete an online Payment Plan Application Form
By phone: You can set up a payment plan with us by calling 9240 1111.
In some circumstances, you might need to complete our Payment plan application form (PDF). Once you have filled in this form you can either:
- Mail it to Merri-bek City Council, Locked Bag 10, Brunswick VIC 3056
- Fax it to 9240 1212
- Email a scanned copy of the form to citysafety@merri-bek.vic.gov.au
The application for a payment plan must be received by us before the due date.
Please note: if you get a fine from us, you have 28 days to pay or arrange a payment plan. Alternatively, if you meet certain circumstances, you can appeal your fine.
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You can pay an installment on your payment plan on our eServices website. You will need to enter the notice number and the agreed payment plan amount will appear.
Request a payment extension to pay your animal or local laws fine
An extension of time to pay may be granted at Council's discretion. You can apply for a due-date extension by calling us on 9240 1111.
How to request a review of a local law or animal fine
If you received a local law or animal fine, you are entitled to apply for an internal review under the Infringements Act 2006 (the Act). You must send this application to Council before the fine is registered with Fines Victoria or lodged with the Magistrates’ Court.
You can only ask for an internal review once for each infringement notice under the Act. We therefore encourage you to provide all information relating to the fine and supply any documentation that supports your grounds for review. The grounds for review are outlined below.
State laws prevent the Mayor and/or Councillors from playing any role in the internal review of an infringement notice. Merri-bek City Council has a clear process of reviewing infringements which is conducted by authorised officers in a fair and independent manner, in accordance with the principles of administrative law and under the relevant State legislation.
Reasons for internal review
Person Unaware – You can request a review under this reason if all of the following apply:
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you found out about the fine within the last 14 days
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the fine was not personally given to you by an officer, and
If you moved house but you did not change your authorised address with the relevant agency (for example, VicRoads or Council) within 14 days of moving, your application may not be successful.
Your application may not be successful unless you provide evidence showing you did not know about the fine. This could be a copy of your passport or boarding pass showing you were overseas, an invoice from a removalist showing that you moved house, a VicRoads address change confirmation, or a report about mail theft.
You must submit your application within 14 days of the date you became aware of the fine.
If your application is successful, you will be granted a further 21 days to deal with your fine and any fees added to your fine will be removed.
Contrary to Law - You can apply under this reason if you think that the council's decision to fine you didn't follow the law. For example, you were fined for parking in a Permit Zone but you had a valid permit displayed.
Mistaken Identity - You can ask for a review for this reason if you have been incorrectly identified as the person who did an offence, and you have evidence to prove this. For example, If you know who was driving the car when the offence happened, you should tell us their details. To tells us about the other driver please see our driver nomination section of the website.
Exceptional Circumstances - You should select this reason only if you can prove that the offence happened because of unusual, unavoidable, or exceptional circumstances, like a medical emergency or a vehicle breakdown.
Special Circumstances - These circumstances are very specific. You can select this reason if you committed the offence in part because:
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you had a mental or intellectual disability, disorder, disease or illness
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you had a serious addiction to drugs, alcohol or a volatile substance
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you were homeless
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you were a victim of family violence, or
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you cannot deal with your fine/s because of severe disabling long-term circumstances.
You must provide recent document/s that supports the special circumstances.
- Depending on your situation, this may be a report from a specialist who treats you, like a psychologist, psychiatrist, social worker, or case manager.
- The report should explain your situation, how it affected you when the offence happened, and what steps are being taken to stop it from happening again.
More information about Special Circumstances is available on the Fines Victoria website.
There are two ways to submit your application for an internal review:
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You can request a review of your Animal or Local Law fine online on our eServices website
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You can fill in the Application for Internal Review form. Send your completed form to Merri-bek City Council, Locked Bag 10, Brunswick 3056, email it to info@merri-bek.vic.gov.au or submit in person to one of our Customer Service Centres. You can find the locations for our Customer Service Centres on our Contact us page.
NOTE: If you are acting on behalf of the person who got the infringement, you need their written permission. Please attach this permission to your application.
What happens when you submit an internal review application:
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We will place your infringement on hold in accordance with the Infringements Regulations 2016.
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Consideration will be given to the information and evidence you have provided and the evidence collected by the issuing officer.
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Council has 90 days to consider your application and advise of the outcome.
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You do not need to do anything until you receive a letter from Council.
What happens when a decision is made on the internal review:
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Council will send you a letter advising of the outcome of the internal review application. The letter will be sent by post to the address you have provided.
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If you've given permission to someone else to act for you, we will send the letter to their address.
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If you want to receive the response by email, please mention this in your request for internal review.
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The letter will advise of Council’s decision and all relevant information.
Nominate another responsible party
In some instances, such as animal related fines, nominations are not available.
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Where a property is rented/leased and a fine or Notice to Comply issued, the property owner may nominate the occupier(s) only if the property owner can demonstrate that they have a lease agreement with the occupier that puts the onus on the occupier to maintain the property.
A copy of the lease agreement will need to be submitted with the nomination. Without this, the onus is on the property owner and the nomination cannot be accepted. The lease agreement must include the following:
- Property details
- Dates of rental agreement
- Names of tenants/renters being nominated
- the tenant/occupier is responsible for maintaining the property;
- the tenant/occupier shall not use or allow the premises to be used in such a manner as to cause nuisance to any occupier or neighbouring premises etc.
You may send the required details and documents to info@merri-bek.vic.gov.au or by submitting a request for review and attaching the documents via Council’s website.
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Nominations for animal fines are unavailable as the responsibility falls to person in charge of the animal at the time of the infringement.
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If you were not driving the car when the offence happened, you should tell us the details of the driver.
Please download and fill in the Nomination Statement (PDF 541Kb) and send the completed statement to:
- Merri-bek City Council, Locked Bag 10, Brunswick VIC 3056,
- info@merri-bek.vic.gov.au or
- bring it to one of our Customer Service Centres, the locations of which are on our Contact us page
Request to go to court
It is recommended that you seek qualified independent legal advice before electing to go to Court, as the outcome of a court hearing may be different from the standard payment requirements of an infringement notice.
Under the Infringements Act 2006, a person issued with an infringement notice may request for their infringement to be heard and determined in the Magistrates Court. If you would like for your matter to be heard in court, you need to send a request in writing to Merri-bek City Council, Locked Bag 10 Brunswick 3056 or by email to info@merri-bek.vic.gov.au
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If your fine is at Infringement Notice, Penalty Reminder Notice or Final Reminder stage, you can apply to have your matter heard in the Magistrates Court (or the Children's Court if you are under 18 years of age).
If your infringement has already escalated to the Magistrates’ Court or Fines Victoria, you cannot apply to Council to go to Court. You need to contact the Court or Fines Victoria directly.
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If your request to go to court is accepted:
- the matter will be listed at the Magistrates Court (or the Children's Court if you are under 18 years of age)
- you will be notified in writing of a date, time and location when you may need to appear before the court. This is referred to as a ‘hearing’.
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The Magistrate or Judicial Registrar will hear your case. They may decide to:
- record a conviction if they find you guilty
- issue you with a new fine (the penalty may be either more, the same, or less than the amount on your Infringement Notice)
- dismiss or discharge your case
- adjourn (delay) the matter
- order you to do unpaid community work.
Important Information
If the infringement is issued to a company, only the Director of the company or the nominated driver of the vehicle may request to have the matter heard in court.
Note that Council incurs costs as part of this process, and we seek to recover these costs if the court finds the matter proven. Once the fine is lodged with the Courts, if you change your mind and decide to pay the fine, you will be required to pay the lodgement fee incurred by Council along with the original fine amount.
Court elect fees
For a single offence the fee is $93.10 and for multiple offences the fee is $140.40 (subject to increase 1 July each year).