By 2014 the NSW Ombudsman was dealing with a growing number of complaints about Revenue NSW garnishee orders, which take money directly from the bank accounts of people who owe fines. By mid-2014 it "had already made several formal suggestions". "These suggestions were not implemented in 2014 or 2015", and complaints peaked in 2016.
In March 2016 the Ombudsman opened a formal investigation, focused on "the impact of garnishee orders on people whose accounts were garnished". In December 2018 the Office suggested Revenue NSW "Seek external legal advice about Revenue's authority to automate the issuing of GOs". In May 2019 the then Ombudsman discontinued the investigation. Revenue NSW "had not indicated that it would implement the suggestion that it obtain legal advice", but complaints had fallen and other suggestions had been taken up.
In April 2024 the Office found that Revenue NSW's conduct in operating the system "from January 2016 to March 2019 was contrary to law". Those were the years the system was under the first investigation, although that investigation had not been examining whether it was lawful.
The 2024 report is careful. It makes "no formal finding" that Revenue NSW's failure to get advice at the time was unreasonable, given what was understood then. It also puts on record that an agency doing the same today without legal advice could be acting unreasonably.
Source: NSW Ombudsman, Revenue NSW: the lawfulness of its garnishee order process, 30 April 2024, paras 61-62, 65-66, 69-71, 152, 185-186.