Service of documents
162 Service of documents
Subject to this Act, documents required or permitted by this Act to be given or served, may be served—
personally; or
by post; or
S. 162(1)(ba) inserted by No. 87/2009 s. 57(1).
by registered post; or
S. 162(1)(bb) inserted by No. 17/2022 s. 74(1).
by email or other electronic communication if a person to be given or served documents—
is of or above the age of 16 years; and
has consented orally or in writing to receiving documents by email or other electronic communication; and
has nominated an electronic address by which they can receive an email or other electronic communication; or
S. 162(1)(bc) inserted by No. 17/2022 s. 74(1).
by sending the document electronically to an address for the person to be served contained in a prescribed electronic address database; or
by any prescribed manner.
Note to s. 162(1) inserted by No. 47/2014 s. 241(1), repealed by No. 17/2022 s. 74(2).
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S. 162(2) amended by Nos 32/2006 s. 50(1)(a), 87/2009 s. 57(2), repealed by No. 47/2014 s. 241(2).
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S. 162(2A) inserted by No. 87/2009 s. 57(3), repealed by No. 47/2014 s. 241(2).
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S. 162(3) repealed by No. 47/2014 s. 241(2).
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If a penalty reminder notice is served by post it must be addressed—
to the last known place of residence or business of the person alleged to have committed the offence; or
S. 162(4)(b) substituted by No. 81/2006 s. 32(3).
if the infringement notice was served under section 87 of the Road Safety Act 1986, to the last address of the person who is the responsible person (within the meaning of Part 6AA of the Road Safety Act 1986) in relation to the vehicle involved in the offence at the time of the offence; or
S. 162(4)(c) substituted by No. 81/2006 s. 32(3).
if the infringement notice was issued in respect of an offence to which section 66 of the Road Safety Act 1986 applies, to the last address of the person who is the responsible person (within the meaning of Part 6AA of the Road Safety Act 1986) in relation to the motor vehicle or trailer involved in the offence at the time of the offence; or
S. 162(4)(d) substituted by No. 81/2006 s. 32(3).
if the infringement notice was issued in respect of an offence against section 73(1) of the Melbourne City Link Act 1995—
to the last address of the person who is the responsible person (within the meaning of Part 6AA of the Road Safety Act 1986) in relation to the vehicle involved in the offence at the time of the offence; or
S. 162(4)(d)(ii) amended by No. 6/2018 s. 68(Sch. 2 item 70).
to the last address of the driver of that vehicle as shown in a statement supplied in accordance with section 72(3) of the Melbourne City Link Act 1995; or
S. 162(4)(e) amended by No. 32/2006 s. 50(1)(b).
if the infringement notice was issued in respect of an offence against section 204 of the EastLink Project Act 2004—
to the last address of the owner of the vehicle within the meaning of that Act; or
S. 162(4)(e)(ii) amended by No. 8/2019 s. 112(1).
if a statement or declaration has been supplied under section 199 or 219 of that Act, to the last address of the person alleged in that statement or declaration to have been the driver of the vehicle; or
S. 162(4)(f) inserted by No. 8/2019 s. 112(2).
if the infringement notice was issued in respect of an offence against section 32(1) of the West Gate Tunnel (Truck Bans and Traffic Management) Act 2019—
to the last address of the operator of the vehicle within the meaning of that Act; or
S. 162(4)(f)(ii) amended by No. 18/2020 s. 135(a).
if a statement has been supplied under section 26 of that Act, to the last address of the person alleged in the statement to have been the driver of the vehicle or operator of the trailer; or
S. 162(4)(g) inserted by No. 18/2020 s. 135(b).
if the infringement notice was issued in respect of an offence against section 69(1) of the North East Link Act 2020—
to the last address of the operator of the vehicle within the meaning of that Act; or
if a statement has been supplied under section 63 of that Act, to the last address of the person alleged in the statement to have been the driver of the vehicle or operator of the trailer.
S. 162(5) substituted by No. 14/2026 s. 40(1).
Any other document served by post under this Act may be addressed to—
the address for service given by the person on whom the document is to be served; or
the address for the person on whom the document is to be served provided in a nomination statement given by the person in the preceding 12 months.
S. 162(6) inserted by No. 32/2006 s. 50(2), amended by No. 47/2014 s. 241(3).
Subject to any evidence to the contrary and despite anything to the contrary in section 49 of the Interpretation of Legislation Act 1984, any document that is served by post in accordance with this section is deemed to be served 7 days after the date specified in the document as the date of that document.
S. 162(6A) inserted by No. 17/2022 s. 74(3), amended by No. 14/2026 s. 40(2).
Subject to subsection (6B) and despite section 13A of the Electronic Transactions (Victoria) Act 2000, an email or other electronic communication is taken to have been received at the time the email or other electronic communication is sent.
S. 162(6B) inserted by No. 17/2022 s. 74(3), amended by No. 14/2026 s. 40(3).
If an email or other electronic communication is sent after 4.00 p.m. on any day, it is taken to have been received on the next business day.
S. 162(6C) inserted by No. 14/2026 s. 40(4).
Subject to any evidence to the contrary, any document that is served by email or other electronic communication in accordance with subsection (1) is deemed to be served at the time the email or other electronic communication is taken to have been received under subsection (6A) or (6B).
S. 162(7) inserted by No. 32/2006 s. 50(2).
A document served on a person less than the period required by this Act for service of that kind of document is invalidly served.
S. 162(8) inserted by No. 14/2026 s. 40(5).
In this section—
last known place of residence or business or last address of a person includes an address provided in a nomination statement given by the person in the preceding 12 months.
S. 162A inserted by No. 14/2026 s. 55.
This provision refers to the regulations (prescribed manner
). Made under this Act:
- Infringements Regulations 2026 · under section 168
This Act’s bill:Explanatory memorandumSecond reading speech
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