A councillor has called for a urgent review into a council-operated 'fine machine' after it banked more than $4million in revenue in a single year.
The City of Adelaide's Park Safe vehicle is fitted with mounted cameras that scan streets for potential parking breaches.
The vehicle captures footage of suspected parking offences, which are then reviewed by trained officers who decide if fines should be issued.
It generated an eye-watering $4.25million from fines in the last financial year.
Critics have highlighted hundreds of examples where locals were fined for getting out of their vehicle to quickly close a garage door, only to later receive a fine.
Some drivers were away from their car for just a few seconds when they were captured by the camera system and handed a fine.
Had a parking ranger been there, many of the fines would not have been issued.
Councillor Keiran Snape, who is running as an Independent for the seat of Adelaide at the upcoming state election, told Daily Mail the council has agreed to review the Park Safe system during an urgent meeting next Tuesday.
Councillor Keiran Snape called for a review into the cameras, claiming they lacked a human element and ensured many drivers were incorrectly fined
The cameras on top of council cars are catching out plenty of drivers but many claim they did not deserve their traffic fines
'I am concerned. I think we're missing the human element in regards to the vehicle,' Cr Snape said.
'I'm not necessarily against the use of the vehicle, but it can be improved.
'We need to bring fairness back and right now that doesn't exist, and people don't trust the system, that it's making the right calls and that's a worry for me.'
The deadline to complete the review is April 28, with Cr Snape unable to convince his colleagues to suspend the fining system during the review period.
The councillor said that while it's estimated that just two per cent of fines are incorrect, it still affects plenty of residents.
'That's still far too many given that we are dishing out thousands of fines. That's a lot of people being caught up in this for doing the right thing, in fact,' he said.
'When there's a human parking inspector, they can see the situation, it's not just a snap. People are getting pinged despite not illegally parking.'
Snape said he would call for the Park Safe vehicle to be banned if the review wasn't satisfactory.
The mounted cameras have increased council revenue since being implemented
The council stands to lose up to $1.6million in its 2025/26 budget, highlighting how financially important the automated vehicle has become.
'There is a perception that this is about revenue raising and it is a perception because 98 per cent of these fines are legitimate,' Snape said.
In NSW, ticketless parking fines became so controversial that Premier Chris Minns moved to ban them.
NSW Finance Minister Courtney Houssos said community feedback strongly supported the system being scrapped.
She called for a return to a fairer and more transparent approach.
'No one likes getting a parking fine. Finding out about it two weeks later stings even more,' Minister Houssos said.
In Brisbane, however, the ticketless technology has been expanded and the practice has created huge revenue for councils across the state.
