Paying an infringement penalty

The national law allows for a person who is alleged to have committed an offence to pay a penalty as an alternative to prosecution. All offences can be prosecuted as criminal matters in courts.

Options when you have received an infringement

After receiving an infringement notice, you have 28 days from the date of issue to exercise the following options:

Pay the infringement penalty, as an alternative to prosecution.
Request an extension to the payment period by sending us a written request.
Organise an instalment payment option by contacting us.
Request to withdraw the infringement notice by sending us a written application.
If you wish to have this alleged offence be dealt with by the court, please inform the National Regulator in writing. The National Regulator may withdraw the notice and refer the matter for prosecution.

Payment options

AMSA offers an easy way for making payments using the AMSA online payment portal. To pay an infringement notice, you will need the transaction reference number (TRN) that is referenced on your infringement notice. If you have misplaced the infringement notice or experience any issues regarding payment, please email infringements@amsa.gov.au or phone 1800 627 484.

AMSA also offers BPAY and Post Billpay as payment options on the infringement notice.

We will consider prosecution when infringement notices are not paid.

How much is my infringement penalty?

Under most Australian laws, financial penalties are expressed in terms of 'penalty units' instead of dollar figures. Section 4AA of the Crimes Act 1914 sets the monetary amount of a penalty unit, which is A$275 as of 1 January 2023.

The monetary amount of each penalty unit is A$275. However, on 1 July 2023, the value of one penalty unit will be indexed based on the formula in section 4AA of the Crimes Act 1914.

You can be issued with multiple infringements. The maximum fines payable for each infringement are:

A$3300 per infringement for an individual
A$16,500 per infringement for a body corporate.

Example

As a vessel owner if you are found to be in breach of section 34 – Not displaying a unique vessel identifier (owner), 12 penalty units apply. If you are also found to be in breach of section 45 – Breach of condition of certificate of survey (owner), a further 12 penalty units apply.

Total penalty units of the two infringements is 24.

If the owner is an individual—a total penalty of A$6600 would apply for two infringements.

If the owner is a body corporate—a total penalty of A$33,000 would apply for two infringements.

Read the list of 48 infringements under the national law.

What happens if I don’t pay an infringement notice?

We will send you only one reminder if you don’t pay an infringement notice.

In cases where payment is not received, we will seek a decision from the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecution (CDPP) whether to commence prosecution.

We actively engage with the CDPP to ensure the infringement notice scheme is implemented fairly. We provide decisions in writing and include our contact details so that decisions can be followed up.