Penalties
Where a person has breached or failed to comply with the Planning and Environment Act 1987 or planning schemes, they may have committed an offence and be liable for certain penalties.
What is the penalty?
Depending on the nature of the offence:
- a planning infringement notice can be issued by an authorised officer; or
- an enforcement order or interim enforcement order can be applied for from VCAT; and/or
- prosecution may be pursued in the Magistrates’ Court.
Where a planning infringement notice has been issued, the penalty is five penalty units for a natural person (an individual) and 10 penalty units for a body corporate. The maximum penalty that can apply to prosecution in the magistrate's court is 1,200 penalty units. The penalty for a contravention of an enforcement order or interim enforcement order is set under the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal Act 1998.
If a responsible authority prosecutes for an offence under the Planning & Environment Act 1987 all penalties recovered in respect to that offence must be paid to the responsible authority.
Both a planning infringement notice and an enforcement order or interim enforcement order can also require that measures be taken to resolve the situation.
To achieve a satisfactory outcome to any prosecution or application to the Magistrates’ Court or VCAT, responsible authorities must ensure that all documentation it provides is of a high standard.
| Section | Provision / Offence | Penalty |
|---|
| 46AZF | Releasing confidential information by a person who has been a member of, Chief Executive Officer or employed by the Growth Areas Authority |
100 penalty units |
| 48 |
Providing misleading information on an application |
60 penalty units |
| 97MZ | Misusing position by a member or former member of a Development Assessment Committee (DAC) | 100 penalty units |
| 97MZA | Member failing to advise Secretary of conflicts of interest in regard to an application and failing to take no part in deciding the application |
100 penalty units |
| 97MZB | Failing to disclose conflicts of interests by persons when providing advice or report to a DAC | 50 penalty units |
| 97MZQ | Publishing information from register of interest that is not a fair and accurate summary or copy of information derived from the register |
50 penalty units |
| 97MZR |
Departmental employee divulging or using information for purposes other than discharging his or her official duties |
50 penalty units |
| 127 | Person guilty of an offence for which no penalty has been expressly provided for under the Act |
1,200 penalty units If the contravention or failure is of a continuing nature, a further penalty of 60 penalty units for each day that it continues. |
| 130 | Where an infringement notice has been issued for contravening a scheme, permit or section 173 agreement |
Five penalty units in the case of a natural person. 10 penalty units in the case of a body corporate. |
| 137 |
Without lawful excuse obstructing an authorised officer or member of the police force. | 60 penalty units |
| 169 | Person who insults, assaults or obstructs a member of a panel, or misbehaves at a hearing; repeatedly interrupts a hearing or disobeys a direction of a panel. | 60 penalty units |
The value of a penalty unit is set each year in accordance with section 6 of the Monetary Units Act 2004. The amount can be obtained from the website of the Office of the Chief Parliamentary Counsel. (For the Financial Year for 2011-2012, the value is $122.14).
Where to obtain a copy of the Act
A hard copy of the Act is available for a fee from Information Victoria, 505 Little Collins Street, Melbourne or call on the freecall number 1300 366 356. A copy is also available on the Legislation and Parliamentary Documents website at www.legislation.vic.gov.au. View Acts and regulations