There are 4 main grounds for withdrawal of expiation notices:

If you have paid the expiation fee (either in full or in part) and the notice is subsequently withdrawn, you may be entitled to a refund but this will depend on the ground being relied upon for withdrawal (see details for each ground below).

1. You did not receive the expiation notice

If it becomes apparent to the authority that you did not receive the expiation notice until after the due date for payment has passed and this was resulting from error on the part of the authority or the postal system, or because of a failure in the transmission of an email sending the notice, the authority must withdraw the expiation notice [Expiation of Offences Act 1996 (SA) s 16(6)].

If an expiation notice is withdrawn because you did not receive it, it can be re-issued to you within one year of the date of the alleged offence [s 16(13)].

2. You did not commit the offence

An authority can withdraw an expiation notice if it is of the opinion that:

Where the expiation notice is issued to the registered owner of a vehicle

For some offences where an authority issues you with an expiation notice as the registered owner of a vehicle, they must also provide you with a nomination or statutory declaration to complete if you were not the driver or owner of the vehicle at the time of the alleged offence.

If you complete a nomination or statutory declaration, the authority may withdraw the expiation notice and re-issue it to the driver or owner whom you name (within one year of the date of the alleged offence).

When the expiation notice is re-issued, the person to whom it is re-issued will be told that you named them.

Where the expiation notice is issued on the basis of photographic evidence

You may similarly complete a nomination or statutory declaration if your vehicle was being driven by another driver at the time of the alleged offence.

For some offences where an authority issues you with an expiation notice on the basis of a photograph/s taken by an automated detection device, you must be informed that you are entitled to request a copy of the photographic evidence. To request a copy of the photographic evidence, you can either telephone the Expiation Notice Branch on 1300 920 362 to make an appointment to view the photograph/s or make the request through SAPOL's Online Photo Request Portal.

For more information visit SAPOL's expiations webpage.

See also Expiation of Offences Act 1996 (SA) s 16(1)(a), 16(1)(ab) and 16(12) and Road Traffic Act 1961 (SA) s 79B (5), (6) and (6a).

3. You have an excuse (i.e. the offence was ‘trifling’)

Usually only minor offences may be dealt with by way of expiation notice and there are only very limited excuses for committing these offences.

Expiation notices should not be issued for offences that can be regarded as trifling.

An offence can be regarded as trifling and excused on the grounds that:

See Expiation of Offences Act 1996 (SA) s 4(2).

You can apply to the police, council or other authority that issued the expiation notice for a review of the notice on the ground that the offence was trifling.

If you apply for a review and the authority agrees that the offence was trifling, the authority must notify you in writing and withdraw the expiation notice.

4. You suffer from a cognitive impairment

An authority can withdraw an expiation notice if it is of the opinion that you suffer from a cognitive impairment that excuses the alleged offending.

A cognitive impairment includes:

See Expiation of Offences Act 1996 (SA) s 16(14).