Transport Administration Act 1988

An authorised officer may serve a penalty notice on a person if it appears to the officer that the person has committed or is guilty of an offence under this Act or the regulations, being an offence prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this section.

A penalty notice is a notice to the effect that, if the person served does not wish to have the matter determined by a court, the person may pay, within the time and to the person specified in the notice, the amount of penalty prescribed by the regulations for the offence if dealt with under this section.

A penalty notice—

may be served personally or by post, or

if it relates to an offence of which the owner of a vehicle is guilty by virtue of section 116, may be addressed to the owner without naming the owner or stating the address of the owner and may be served by leaving it on or attaching it to the vehicle.

If the amount of the penalty prescribed for an alleged offence is paid under this section, no person is liable to any further proceedings for the alleged offence.

Payment under this section shall not be regarded as an admission of liability for the purposes of, nor in any way affect or prejudice, any civil claim, action or proceeding arising out of the same occurrence.

The regulations may—

prescribe an offence for the purposes of this section by specifying the offence or by referring to the provision creating the offence, and

prescribe the amount of penalty payable for the offence if dealt with under this section, and

prescribe different amounts of penalties for different offences or classes of offences.

The amount of a penalty prescribed under this section for an offence shall not exceed the maximum amount of penalty which could be imposed for the offence by a court.

This section does not limit the operation of any other provision of, or made under, this or any other Act relating to proceedings which may be taken in respect of offences.

In this section, authorised officer means—

a member of the NSW Police Force, or

a person declared by the regulations to be an authorised officer for the purposes of this section.