{"id":404076,"date":"2026-01-10T11:38:12","date_gmt":"2026-01-10T11:38:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/404076\/"},"modified":"2026-01-10T11:38:12","modified_gmt":"2026-01-10T11:38:12","slug":"the-grey-area-leaving-the-act-unable-to-collect-more-than-60000-in-unpaid-traffic-parking-fines","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/404076\/","title":{"rendered":"The ‘grey area’ leaving the ACT unable to collect more than $60,000 in unpaid traffic, parking fines"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Car<\/p>\n

Some foreign diplomats and consular staff won\u2019t pay traffic infringement notices. Photo: Michelle Kroll.<\/p>\n

The Embassy of Spain still hasn\u2019t paid a $67 fine from 1996, while an Embassy of Pakistan driver has an outstanding $2534 infringement for using a mobile phone behind the wheel.<\/p>\n

Diplomats, embassies and mission staff are generally exempt from a country\u2019s laws, as outlined in the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations.<\/a><\/p>\n

But traffic and parking infringements are excluded from this immunity status<\/a>, meaning all diplomatic and consular staff, as well as their dependents, are expected to abide by Australia\u2019s road rules.<\/p>\n

ANU College of Law, Governance and Policy international law professor Donald Rothwell said a country\u2019s parking rules and traffic laws probably weren\u2019t issues that were front of mind when the Vienna Convention was adopted in 1961.<\/p>\n

\u201cFines fall into a somewhat grey area as to whether they are a criminal law matter \u2026 or whether [it\u2019s] an administrative matter, which then fall outside of the Vienna Conventions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are [some countries] that take the view \u2026 in [their] interpretation of the Vienna Conventions, that \u2018we\u2019re not subject to this version of Australian and ACT law\u2019.\u201d<\/p>\n

Prof Rothwell explained that straight-out parking fines could be interpreted by some as an administrative matter, as illegal parking (and related actions) create an \u201cinconvenience\u201d to other members of the public, whereas a traffic infringement can \u201cpose, clearly, a threat to other members of society\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are various gradations [in the severity of an incident] one needs to think about,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Any diplomat who is accredited to work in Australia is expected to comply with local laws, despite any immunity status. Many countries do want to be reputable and have a good standing with the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT).<\/p>\n

But those that appear to be more disposed to breaking traffic and parking rules \u2013 and ignoring the subsequent fines \u2013 aren\u2019t unique to Canberra.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt comes with the territory of Canberra being the capital [of Australia] \u2026 it\u2019s not an unexceptional practice around the world,\u201d Prof Rothwell said.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou\u2019ll probably find those repeat offenders are representatives of governments who, around the world, flaunt parking and traffic [rules] \u2026 there\u2019s a culture there.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p>\n

However, keeping track of which missions, diplomats and embassy staff break both ACT rules and pay the fines can be useful for DFAT.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt keeps tabs on those who are law-abiding and those who are not,\u201d Prof Rothwell explained.<\/p>\n

As the data is publicly available, it could also help explain to residents of suburbs that are flush with embassies and popular with their staff \u2013 such as Yarralumla, Deakin, Forrest and Manuka \u2013 why parking might sometimes feel so impossible.<\/p>\n

According to the DFAT website, missions, posts and their staff are expected to pay all fines \u201cpromptly\u201d (unless they plan to contest the infringement).<\/p>\n

\u201cDFAT cannot intervene to seek a waiver or cancellation of infringement notices,\u201d its website stated.<\/p>\n

As of October 2025 there were 66 outstanding parking and traffic fines from embassies, missions and consular staff.<\/p>\n

The total amount unpaid is $63,076.<\/p>\n

Fifteen embassies are named<\/a>, while others are listed as \u201cunknown\u201d or are de-identified missions.<\/p>\n

Offences include parking in a loading zone, stopping on a path or nature strip, using an unregistered or suspended vehicle, speeding and using a mobile phone while driving.<\/p>\n

Mission and post staff can have their licences suspended if the licence holder accumulates \u201csufficient demerit points\u201d or fines remain unpaid.<\/p>\n

\u201cContinuing to drive on a suspended licence would demonstrate a serious disregard for Australia\u2019s traffic rules and could lead to a request for the individual\u2019s withdrawal from Australia,\u201d the DFAT website stated.<\/p>\n

A person\u2019s immunity to certain driving offences depends on their status.<\/p>\n

An ACT Government spokesperson confirmed it had moved to suspend the licence of a mission or diplomat in the past, but did not go into further detail.<\/p>\n

\u201cNon-payment of road transport infringement notices in the ACT may result in licence suspension, cancellation of vehicle registration, or the revocation of a person\u2019s right to drive in the ACT,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Some foreign diplomats and consular staff won\u2019t pay traffic infringement notices. Photo: Michelle Kroll. The Embassy of Spain…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":404077,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[43,44,41,39,42,40],"class_list":["post-404076","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-headlines","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404076","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=404076"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/404076\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/404077"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=404076"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=404076"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=404076"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}