What a penalty unit is worth in Victoria
Almost every fine in Victoria is written in penalty units, not dollars. The Monetary Units Act 2004 has the Treasurer fix the unit’s value each financial year, and the dollar figure on a notice is the offence’s units multiplied by that value. This page carries the current value, the mechanism, and the year-by-year history — each with its gazette reference.
The multiplier
The current value
One figure sits under every dollar amount in Victoria's fine schedules. This is it, with the period it applies to and the gazette that fixed it.
- One penalty unit
- $209.10
- Financial year
- 1 July 2026–30 June 2027
- Gazetted by
- Special Gazette S234, 5 May 2026
Mechanism
How the value is set, and how it becomes dollars
The Monetary Units Act 2004 does not price offences — it prices the unit, and states the arithmetic.
Under s 5 of the Act, the Treasurer fixes the value of a penalty unit for each financial year, and the value is published in the Government Gazette. Every instrument that writes its penalties in penalty units inherits the new value each July without being amended — which is why the same offence carries a slightly different dollar amount from one year to the next while its row in the schedule never changes.
“The amount of a penalty provided for by an Act or statutory rule by a penalty unit is to be calculated by multiplying the number of penalty units applicable by the value of a penalty unit fixed under section 5.”
“The amount of a penalty calculated under this section may be rounded to the nearest dollar.”
Note the word “may” in s 7(4): rounding to the nearest dollar is permitted, not commanded. The amounts on this site render the rounded figure, and the exact product stays recomputable from the two numbers that made it — the row’s units and the gazetted value above.
History
The value, year by year
Each financial year's value with its own gazette reference, oldest first, exactly as the Department of Treasury and Finance publishes them.
← swipe to see the whole table →
| Financial year | Value | Gazette reference (as printed by DTF) |
|---|---|---|
| 2022–23 | $184.92 | Gazette Number G16, 21 April 2022 |
| 2023–24 | $192.31 | Gazette Number S256, 23 May 2023 |
| 2024–25 | $197.59 | Special Gazette S225-24, 7 May 2024 |
| 2025–26 | $203.51 | Special Gazette S245, dated 22 May 2024 (as printed by DTF — see note) |
| 1 July 2026–30 June 2027 — current | $209.10 | Special Gazette S234, 5 May 2026 |
The dollar values in this table are the gazetted unit values themselves, not derived amounts — no rounding rule applies to them. Values and gazette references are reproduced exactly as the Department of Treasury and Finance publishes them. One reference above carries a printed gazette date that does not fit its neighbours’ pattern; the payload records it as printed and names the anomaly rather than silently correcting a source — that is what the “(as printed by DTF — see note)” marker on that row means.
Value of a penalty unit, 1 July 2026 – 30 June 2027 (Monetary Units Act 2004 s.5), Special Gazette S234, 5 May 2026
Worked example
From a schedule row to the dollars on a notice
One real row, taken through the s 7(2) arithmetic and the s 7(4) rounding — the derivation every dollar figure on this site repeats.
Take Schedule 7, item 23 — “Exceed speed limit in a vehicle other than a heavy vehicle by less than 10 km per hour (natural person)”. Column 4 of the schedule prices it at 1·25 penalty units, printed with the schedule’s own interpunct decimal. The notice figure follows from that row and the gazetted value above:
1·25 penalty units × $209.10 = $261.375
rounded to the nearest dollar (s 7(4)) = $261Penalty units vs fee units
Two units share the gazette — only one prices fines
A distinction worth one paragraph, because confusing the two units misprices everything.
The Department of Treasury and Finance gazettes two unit values each year: the penalty unit, which prices penalties, and the fee unit, which prices government fees and charges. They are different units with different values. This site’s payload types only the penalty unit, so no fee-unit figure appears anywhere on this site — for a fee, the DTF’s indexation page is the source, not any number here.
Sources
- Value of a penalty unit, 1 July 2026 – 30 June 2027 (Monetary Units Act 2004 s.5), Special Gazette S234, 5 May 2026
- Monetary Units Act 2004 (No. 10/2004), s.5
- Monetary Units Act 2004 (No. 10/2004), s.7(2)
- Monetary Units Act 2004 (No. 10/2004), s.7(4)
- Road Safety (General) Regulations 2019, S.R. No. 88/2019, Authorised Version No. 022, incorporating amendments as at 1 January 2026