The ACT has been forced to stop issuing fines to drivers caught on camera not wearing seatbelts after a bungle was discovered that casts a legal risk over thousands of infringements.
The cameras that detect if drivers and passengers are wearing seatbelts were never explicitly authorised for issuing the fines in what the government said was an "administrative oversight".
A new declaration has now been made to cover future fines but the government is sounding out support in the Legislative Assembly for a special law to remove the legal doubt over the earlier infringements.
Nearly 13,000 infringement notices had been issued for seatbelt offences before the Acusensus system was explicitly approved as a "seatbelt detection system".
While there was no issue with the system's ability to detect seatbelt offences, the administrative mistake means the earlier fines are at risk of a successful legal challenge.
City and Environment Directorate executive group manager Josh Rynehart said officials had moved quickly to resolve the problem after it was identified at the start of last week.
"Wearing a seatbelt is incredibly important. It is a high safety risk. And it's really important from my perspective that people continue to wear their seatbelts [and] drive safely," Mr Rynehart said.
"This is an administrative oversight from within the directorate. It's not a question about whether the cameras are operating appropriately, but people need to wear a seatbelt when they're driving their cars."
Mr Rynehart said there was always human intervention before an infringement was issued and the cameras had been operating as intended.
"There are always appeal rights available to drivers if they don't believe that the infringement was issued appropriately as a general principle," he said.
The ACT has issued 12,850 seatbelt offence fines using the camera technology since November 2025 and just under half of those are still outstanding.
Nearly 4000 seatbelt offence fines have been paid and are considered settled by the ACT. More than 2600 infringements have either been put onto a payment plan, withdrawn or are the subject of a court outcome.
The system uses high-resolution infra-red cameras to capture three images of a vehicle passing the roadside detection array, information provided to the Legislative Assembly said.
An artificial intelligence (AI) system is used to initially determine whether the images depict an offence, before being passed to an employee of the camera operator and then an Access Canberra officer. Only authorised Access Canberra staff decide whether infringement notices are issued.
In the first 36 days of operation, the cameras issued $3.1 million worth of fines for seatbelt offences. Most fines are worth $574.
Although the government has put new fines on hold since August 24, drivers might still be contacted about the infringements. Drivers can still pay, dispute or seek a withdrawal of a fine.
Mr Rynehart said the City and Environment Directorate would wait for the outcome of the Legislative Assembly's view on a retrospective validating law before further considering any other options.
The Legislative Assembly in September 2025 unanimously voted for a new law to allow the introduction of camera-detected seatbelt offences in the ACT.
City and Government Services Minister Tara Cheyne told the Assembly before the law was passed unanimously there would be amendments to regulation, camera testing and system upgrades and an extensive public awareness campaign before seatbelt offence fines were issued.
"By adhering to speed limits, wearing seatbelts, avoiding driver distraction and being mindful of vulnerable road users, we can all contribute to safer roads. This is a bill that builds on decades of data and decades of proven messages that show one simple truth: seatbelts save lives," Ms Cheyne said at the time.
"Research shows that a correctly worn seatbelt reduces the risk of death or serious injury by 50 per cent. However, despite now decades of education, there are still some individuals who travel without a seatbelt and still drivers who fail to ensure that their passengers are restrained. The consequences can be devastating."
A disallowable instrument was not updated to explicitly refer to the seatbelt detection system before the cameras started seatbelt detection on November 3, 2025. The instrument referred to mobile phone use and speeding, which were already subject to roadside camera-detected fines.
The ACT's minority government needs the support of the opposition or members of the crossbench to pass the legislation, meaning it cannot unilaterally make a legal fix to the fines.
