THE UNION says removing ticketless parking fines will take rangers back to the "bad old days" when they suffered broken jaws, black eyes and abuse for "simply doing their job".
State government proposed reforms issued on Thursday will make it tougher for councils, like Newcastle, Lake Macquarie and the Central Coast, to dish out ticketless parking fines.
United Services Union general secretary Graeme Kelly said the state government "will be responsible" for every assault suffered by a parking ranger from now on.
"Every time a parking inspector is punched, spat on or abused they'll be able to thank the NSW government for making a difficult situation even more dangerous," he said.
"We've had council rangers who have been put in comas, had their jaws broken, been spat on and abused with the most foul-mouthed tirades."
The controversial system has seen local councils issue ticketless parking fines at record rates, with a 49 per cent jump in the use of the system in the 2023-24 financial year.
The new legislation will require councils to attach an on-the-spot notification to a vehicle, which could be the penalty notice itself or a short description of the offence and notice that a fine will be sent.
Rangers will be required to take photos of offences, even if they use the traditional 'ticketed' method, and make them available to Revenue NSW to provide to drivers.
Lake Macquarie City Council raked in more than $3 million using the ticketless system in 2023, issuing more than 14,400 fines.
The council started using the system in February 2022. It trialled a licence plate recognition technology that allowed rangers to issue fines from a council vehicle but decided not to implement it.
A Lake Macquarie council spokesman said Revenue NSW charges a $22 fee for each ticket that is issued.
"The safety of staff is council's priority," he said.
"The need to leave calling cards or tickets on vehicles will increase the risk to staff."
The council spokesman said rangers issue infringements and place tickets on windscreens when it is safe to do so.
"If the officer finds themselves in an unsafe situation, they will remove themselves from the situation, report the incident and follow up with the police if needed," he said.
"The implementation of ticketless infringements has led to a reduction in confrontations between staff and members of the public."
Under the new state government legislation, photos of offences must include the vehicle, relevant signage and the physical notice left on the car.
The circumstances where on-the-spot tickets are not required to be left will be limited to times when it is unsafe or hazardous for a ranger to do so.
Repeat ticketless parking fines will be invalidated to address a key concern with the existing system where drivers can be fined multiple times for the same offence before they become aware of the initial infringement.
A City of Newcastle (CN) spokesman said it will review the proposed legislation.
"CN has supported the ticketless parking fine scheme and the benefits it provides in maintaining the safety of our staff while delivering on the community's expectations for increased management of parking behaviour in Newcastle," he said.
The spokesman said council parking officers are "regularly" subjected to threatening behaviour, physical threats and verbal abuse while performing their duties.
He said that as part of the council's process, photos of each offence are provided to Revenue NSW as a record to support the fine.
"It's an identical process used by the NSW Government for mobile speed cameras and red-light cameras," he said.
"The safety and well-being of the community and our employees remains our top priority, with the ticketless parking system increasing the safety of our parking officers."
CN pulled in $339,545 across 2002 ticketless fines, while Central Coast Council earned $4.1 million with 15,320.
Central Coast Council said its parking officers use their discretion when issuing fines, aiming for non-conflict interactions with the public.
A spokeswoman for the council said even so, rangers are still subject to some aggressive and negative behaviour.
"This behaviour showed some reduction during the period council was issuing ticketless parking fines, and council would hope that this will continue under the new legislation," she said.
In the 2023-24 financial year, NSW councils issued 822,310 ticketless parking fines compared to 551,441 in 2022-23.
NSW Premier Chris Minns said drivers deserve better than the current system.
"Too many motorists have driven off with no idea they might be liable for a parking fine," he said.
"This system was introduced by the former government without enough protections for drivers.
"We're fixing that."
Overall, both ticketless and paper council-issued parking fines across the state increased by more than 110,000, about nine per cent, between 2022-23 and 2023-24.
