Thousands of Canberra seatbelt fines in doubt after administrative oversight

Thousands of fines handed out to drivers in Canberra caught on camera not wearing seatbelts have been thrown into doubt following an "administrative oversight".

Access Canberra discovered fixed and mobile cameras were certified to detect mobile phones, but a legal document was never updated to explicitly include seatbelt offences.

The error has cast doubt over around 13,000 seatbelt fines that have been issued since the ACT started using mobile traffic detection cameras to detect seatbelt offences in November 2025.

Head of Access Canberra Josh Rynehart said the oversight was picked up internally two weeks ago, but should have been addressed before fines began to be issued.

"The cameras are authorised for the use as a traffic offence control device," he told ABC Radio Canberra.

"It's just that the disallowable instrument didn't include the word 'seatbelt'."

Around 6,500 have already paid their fines or had their liability otherwise resolved, instances which Access Canberra considers "settled", despite the bungle.

"We consider once a person has paid their infringement, that that matter is settled and the demerits then do apply to their license," Mr Rynehart said.

"The question is about whether the evidence would be admissible in court, not whether the evidence is correct."

He described it as a "potential" issue and that a fix was needed out of an "abundance of caution just to make sure we have absolute clarity".

"As soon as we became aware of the potential issue, we needed to act and do something about it," he said.

Problem rectified, authority says

As soon as the issue was discovered, Access Canberra paused the issuing of seatbelt fines.

Mr Rynehart said the issue had now been fixed, and infringements are being issued again.

"To be clear, the disallowable instrument is now explicitly authorising the cameras, and we will be issuing the infringements moving forward," he said.

He said there were options available for people who had not paid their fines.

"They can choose to pay the fine, they can choose to seek a withdrawal, they can choose to dispute," he said.

Mr Rynehart said 20 seatbelt offences had been challenged in court, and all had been upheld.

'Unfortunate administrative error'

The Legislative Assembly will now consider legislation to retrospectively fix the issue, and to ensure the fines issued are valid.

Deputy Chief Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith described it as an "unfortunate administrative error" but said "wearing a seatbelt is a critical safety measure".

"Every single infringement notice that has been issued, has not only had the camera footage but has also been checked by a human being," she said.

But Opposition Leader Mark Parton said a complete review of the seatbelt camera system might be warranted.

"It puts the government in an extremely embarrassing and precarious situation," he said.

"The Canberra Liberals are just examining all options and those options do include refunds.

He said the Canberra Liberals were currently "not of a mind" to support legislation to retrospectively allow the fines to become legal.

In a statement, Greens MLA Andrew Braddock said his party was "willing to work with the Government to pass a validating bill to remove legal doubt over seatbelt infringements issued under this instrument".

"The failure of the ACT government to update a legal instrument should not be an excuse to be unsafe on our roads," he said.