Illegally parked or abandoned vehicles

Our parking officers patrol between 7am and 9pm.

When you report a parking issue:

• If possible, we’ll redirect a patrolling officer to attend and investigate.
• We’ll need to prove a parking offence is occurring. This can take time and may require more than one visit.
• We may not always issue fines. For example, if a vehicle has a permit, if signs are no longer in effect or if the driver follows an officer’s direction to move.
• We’ll update you on the outcome of your report by email or SMS.
• All community reports provide data that we use to update our patrol routes and schedules.

To speak with someone about a parking issue or to make an anonymous report, call us on 9658 9658.

Unregistered vehicles cannot be left on the road and in some circumstances we can consider a registered vehicle to have been abandoned by the owner.

Each year around 170 vehicles are considered abandoned in the City of Melbourne.

When you report a suspected abandoned vehicle, we investigate by:

• identifying the vehicle 
• checking if the vehicle is registered and not stolen.

If we intend to remove the vehicle, we’ll: 

• affix a notice to the vehicle and write to the last known owner 
• monitor the vehicle while we wait to hear from them.

We can remove unregistered vehicles promptly, and registered vehicles if no action is taken two months after we notify the owner. The process starts with an owner detail search, which can take up to 14 days. 

Have you been notified or has your vehicle been removed? Read more about towed and impounded vehicles.

Resident vehicles

We don’t typically consider registered vehicles to be abandoned if the owner lives locally. We also take into account that residents sometimes park their vehicles for extended periods, particularly if they’re on holiday or using sustainable transport options.

If a bicycle has not moved for seven days in a public space, it may be considered abandoned and removed.

Each year around 150 bicycles are considered abandoned in the City of Melbourne.

When you report a suspected abandoned bicycle, we investigate by:

• placing a notice on the bicycle that asks the owner to remove it within seven days
• removing the bicycle after this time, if it hasn’t already been moved
• storing the bicycle for at least 14 days to provide the owner an opportunity to collect it.