The NSW government will withdraw and repay more than 23,000 fines issued during the COVID-19 pandemic after receiving fresh legal advice.
More than 50,000 penalty notices were issued for breaching public health orders during the height of the pandemic, according to the government.
In 2022, Revenue NSW withdrew more than 36,000 penalty notices because the NSW Commissioner of Fines Administration found that those penalty notices did not comply with the Fines Act.
The commissioner found the penalty notices did not sufficiently detail the description of the offence committed.
Revenue NSW said at the time it did "not mean the offences were not committed" and the remaining fines would "still be required to be paid if not already resolved".
But the remaining 23,539 COVID-19 fines were not withdrawn because the government said they were "formulated differently" with a clearer explanation of the offence.
On Tuesday, the government announced it would also cancel those fines and refund individuals $5.5 million because the notices contained insufficient details.
In a statement, Commissioner of Fines Administration Scott Johnston said he has exercised his statutory authority to withdraw the fines.
"Following representations made to the commissioner of police and myself concerning the validity of COVID-19 penalty notices, I have decided to exercise my statutory authority and withdraw these notices," he said.
"Revenue NSW will be reaching out to all affected customers to support them through the finalisation of their matters."
'It's a lot of money and a lot of fines'
Redfern Legal Centre, who brought the matter before the Supreme Court in 2022, said the law was rushed through and the fines mostly impacted people in vulnerable circumstances.
Supervising solicitor Samantha Lee said the fines eroded justice in the government system.
"Some people lost their licence, some people couldn't register their vehicles, particularly those living in regional areas. It was a real detrimental impact on them," Ms Lee said.
"Having this lifted is a real justice in their circumstances, but it's something that should have been done many, many months ago, and the fact that the government has waited so long is the appalling aspect of this whole story."
Ms Lee said some households were fined $10,000, with the majority of those fines issued to people in low socio-economic and First Nations communities.
"It's a lot of money and a lot of fines, and they didn't want to give that up, but we took them to the table and made them do so," she said.
"We believe it's for the justice of people in New South Wales."
