NSW Police launches new taskforce to crack down on fraud in demerits system

Police are cracking down on fraud in the demerit points scheme after finding a French national had racked up a whopping 200 points.

The Demerit Point Integrity Taskforce, launched by NSW Premier Chris Minns on Friday, will identify fraudulent behaviour such as drivers collecting huge demerit numbers or selling demerit points online, including on social media platforms like Facebook Marketplace.

The scheme, introduced decades ago to reduce poor behaviour on the roads, adds demerits, or penalty points, to drivers who commit traffic offences such as speeding.

If a driver accumulates 13 or 14 points, depending on the kind of licence they have, they can face sanctions such as a licence suspension.

The government warned a “tiny fraction” of the state’s 6.9 million drivers could be gaming the system.

“(The taskforce) will investigate any gaming of the legitimate process for nominating another driver to take demerit points for an offence,” a government spokesperson said.

More than a million motorists in New South Wales have had a demerit point removed from their driver's license this week.

“The NSW government is beefing up the system to make it more robust after a recent high-profile case where a French national had more than 200 demerit points applied to his licence.”

The taskforce, made up of officers from the transportation department, NSW Police and Revenue NSW, will review the suitability of current penalties, suspensions and what extra measures are available to deter people who rack up extremely high demerits.

“The demerit point system in NSW was designed more than 50 years ago and has been a key plank in improvements that have enhanced road safety over those five decades,” Roads Minister John Graham said.

“The NSW government has zero tolerance for anyone trying to subvert the system.

“There is one set of road rules and they apply equally to all.”

Regional Transport and Roads Minister Jenny Aitchison emphasised falsely claiming to be the driver guilty of an offence for a fee was a “criminal” act.

“The system is in place to keep everyone safe,” she said.

“The NSW government is committed to identifying and addressing any opportunities for exploitation that affect the operation of the scheme and put road users at risk.

“Acts like falsely claiming to be the driver and taking points for a fee are criminal and the taskforce will examine ways to help identify and punish unscrupulous people who take advantage of the system,” Ms Aitchison said.

The taskforce will run for three months and then report to the government on its findings.