In Australia, penalty units are the building blocks statutes use to set fines, and calculating a fine means multiplying the number of units attached to the offence by the current dollar value of one unit in the jurisdiction whose law applies. A Commonwealth penalty unit is $330 as of 7 November 2024, so a federal offence carrying a maximum of 10 penalty units exposes a person to a fine of up to $3,300.1Australian Financial Security Authority. Penalty Units Each state and territory sets its own figure, which is why the same offence number translates to very different dollar amounts depending on where it was committed.
Current Dollar Value of One Penalty Unit
The value depends on which parliament made the law. These are the confirmed rates for 2025-2026, or the most recent published figure where annual indexation has not yet occurred:
- Commonwealth: $330, effective 7 November 2024. Next scheduled indexation is 1 July 2026.1Australian Financial Security Authority. Penalty Units
- Victoria: $203.51 for 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026.2Department of Justice and Community Safety. Penalties and Values
- Tasmania: $205.3Department of Justice Tasmania. Penalty Units Indexed Amounts
- Northern Territory: $189 for 1 July 2025 to 30 June 2026.4Attorney-General’s Department Northern Territory. Penalty Units
- Queensland: $166.90, effective 1 July 2025.5Queensland Government. Sentencing Fines and Penalties for Offences
New South Wales, the ACT, South Australia, and Western Australia each set their own rates through separate legislation, and those values change periodically. Readers in those jurisdictions should check the relevant state or territory gazette for the figure currently in force.
The spread is wide. A 10-unit fine costs $3,300 under Commonwealth law, $2,035.10 in Victoria, and $1,669 in Queensland. The level of government that enacted the law matters as much as the number of units themselves.
How to Calculate the Fine
Find the number of penalty units prescribed for the offence (this appears in the statute or on the penalty notice), then multiply by the current value of one unit in the relevant jurisdiction. A federal offence carrying a maximum of 20 penalty units works out to 20 × $330 = $6,600. The same 20-unit offence under Victorian law would be 20 × $203.51 = $4,070.20.
The number set in the statute is the maximum. A court can impose any amount up to that ceiling, and infringement notices are set well below it.
Which rate applies in time matters. The value that governs the fine is generally the one in force when the offence was committed, not the value when the matter reaches court. If the rate rises between the offence and the hearing, the earlier, lower rate applies. An offence committed in late June may therefore carry a different dollar value from the same offence committed a few days later in early July, because most states and territories update on 1 July.5Queensland Government. Sentencing Fines and Penalties for Offences
Watch for Sector-Specific Rates
Some legislation defines its own penalty unit value rather than using the jurisdiction’s general rate. Work health and safety laws are the common example. In New South Wales, the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 prescribes its own penalty unit at $123.31 for 2025-2026, which differs from the general NSW figure. Queensland’s WHS Act uses a $100 penalty unit rather than the state’s general rate of $166.90.6Safe Work Australia. Cross-Jurisdictional Table of Penalties Always check the specific Act that creates the offence to see whether it defines its own unit value before doing the arithmetic.
Companies Pay More
When a corporation commits an offence, the maximum fine is dramatically higher than for an individual. Under section 4B(3) of the Crimes Act 1914, a court may impose a fine on a body corporate of up to five times the maximum that could be imposed on a natural person for the same Commonwealth offence.7Australian Border Force. Infringement Notice Scheme Guide A federal offence that carries a maximum of 60 penalty units for an individual ($19,800) can therefore attract up to 300 penalty units ($99,000) for a company.
Most state and territory legislation takes a similar approach, though the multiplier varies. Many statutes write the body corporate maximum directly into the offence (language like “maximum penalty: 100 penalty units, or 500 penalty units for a body corporate”). Where the statute is silent, the default multiplier under the relevant jurisdiction’s interpretation legislation usually fills the gap. For any business facing a regulatory charge, identifying whether a five-times rule or a statute-specific cap applies is one of the first questions worth answering.
Infringement Notices vs Court-Imposed Fines
Most people encounter penalty units through an infringement notice rather than a court appearance. The amount on the notice is only a fraction of the statutory maximum. Under Commonwealth law, an infringement notice penalty cannot exceed one-quarter of the maximum court penalty for the same offence, and is separately capped at 15 penalty units for an individual or 75 penalty units for a body corporate.7Australian Border Force. Infringement Notice Scheme Guide
Paying an infringement notice settles the matter without a court hearing or a recorded conviction. Contesting the notice sends the matter to court, where the full statutory maximum becomes available to the magistrate. For minor offences where the facts are not in dispute, paying is usually the more practical option. Where there is a genuine defence, contesting can be worthwhile, but the risk of a higher fine and a conviction on your record needs to be weighed.
What Happens If You Do Not Pay
Ignoring a fine does not make it disappear. Each jurisdiction has an enforcement framework that escalates in stages. New South Wales illustrates the typical pattern.8Australian Law Reform Commission. Fines and Infringement Notices
- Licence and registration suspension. If the fine is not paid within the specified period, the roads authority can suspend your driver licence and cancel your vehicle registration.
- Civil enforcement. Authorities may pursue property seizure orders, garnishee orders against wages or bank accounts, or register a charge against land you own.
- Community service order. Where civil enforcement fails, a community service order may be issued requiring you to work off the debt.
- Imprisonment. As a last resort, failing to comply with a community service order can lead to a warrant for imprisonment, with maximum custody periods set to prevent disproportionate jail time relative to the debt.
Most jurisdictions also offer hardship provisions. If you genuinely cannot afford to pay, options such as extended payment plans, write-offs, and work and development orders may be available. These need to be applied for proactively; waiting until enforcement action starts limits your choices. For corporations, the same enforcement steps apply except community service and imprisonment, which only apply to natural persons.8Australian Law Reform Commission. Fines and Infringement Notices
Why Parliament Uses Units Instead of Dollar Figures
The practical advantage is efficiency. Without penalty units, adjusting fines for inflation would mean amending every individual statute that prescribes a fine. Across Commonwealth legislation alone that would involve thousands of provisions. With units, the government changes one number and every fine in every statute updates automatically. That is what happened in 2024 when Parliament increased the Commonwealth penalty unit from $313 to $330 through a single amendment.9Parliament of Australia. Crimes and Other Legislation Amendment (Omnibus No. 1) Bill 2024
The system also keeps the relative severity of different offences steady over time. A traffic infringement worth 5 penalty units and a regulatory breach worth 50 penalty units will always sit in a 1-to-10 ratio, no matter how the dollar value moves.