How SEQ councils compare on parking penalties – and Brisbane’s most costly offence

For many offences, Brisbane is the most expensive place in south-east Queensland to get a parking fine – and sometimes by a significant margin.

Just under 200,000 infringement notices were handed out to vehicle owners across the River City last financial year, raising about $37 million.

The average fine in Brisbane was about $185.

“When people park illegally, they can cause delays, disrupt the flow of traffic for thousands of commuters every day, and create major safety issues,” a council spokesperson said.

“Every dollar raised by ensuring people park appropriately and safely is invested straight back into the community to deliver services and build better roads.”

Data compiled by this masthead shows how fines differ across the seven south-east Queensland council areas: Brisbane, the Redlands, Logan, the Gold Coast, Moreton Bay, Ipswich and the Sunshine Coast.*

The cheapest recorded fines were for parking meter offences on the Sunshine Coast, which set drivers back $50.

The same offence cost between $111 and $166 in the other council areas that charge for parking.

Leaving an unregistered car on the street in Brisbane is by far the most expensive mistake to make with a stationary car, resulting in a fine of $834.

The same offence would set you back $166 in Moreton Bay, or $333 in the Redlands.

In most council areas, the steepest fine is $667 – for parking in a disabled spot without a permit. Ipswich is the only place where the fine for that offence differs, at $333.

Stopping in a no-stopping zone costs $333 in Brisbane, but no more than $208 in any other council area. The separate offence of stopping in a no-parking area is $166 everywhere except Ipswich and the Sunshine Coast, where it’s about $124.50.

In Brisbane, staying in a spot longer than allowed, parking in a no-stopping area and stopping in a bus zone – which attracts a fine of $333 – are among the most common offences.

Only about 2.5 per cent of fines are successfully challenged.

Last financial year, Brisbane City Council raised almost as much from parking fines as it did from legitimate payments for parking through street machines and the CellOPark app.

The most fines were issued in Margaret Street in the CBD, followed by Wickham Street in Fortitude Valley, Alice Street in the city centre, and Grey Street in South Brisbane.

This masthead previously revealed how prolific AI cameras had become in issuing fines, with Brisbane drivers falling foul of the technology about 250,000 times in just over three years.

The technology uses cameras attached to roaming cars to autonomously identify illegal parking and record number plates.

In the 2024-25 financial year, Redland City Council issued 18,884 parking fines, raising $3.10 million. Over the same period, Ipswich issued 19,127 fines, but said it raised less than half that.

Across 2025, the City of the Gold Coast handed out 182,308 fines.

“The city continues to receive a high volume of complaints from the community about unsafe and illegal parking, and has seen an increase in non-compliance in recent years,” a spokesperson said.

*Fines are based off a standardised “penalty unit” of $166.90, and are sometimes rounded up or down, making the above figures rough estimates. Where no figure is provided for a category, the offence does not apply in that council area or that council declined to provide the data.

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