Impounded Vehicles

Overview

Council may seize and remove vehicles on Council roads or road related areas (e.g. footpath, dividing strip or public cycle paths) if they are:

• unregistered,
• abandoned,
• unsightly or
• otherwise parked in a hazardous location.

Vehicles that are registered and legally parked cannot be deemed as abandoned and are permitted on the road reserve. Where a vehicle is deemed to be in a hazardous location, Council may in some instances organise for it to be removed immediately.

If outside of Council hours, please contact Queensland Police.

List of Impounded Vehicles:

Where a vehicle is impounded and removed under the Local Law, and there is a person in charge of the vehicle present at the time of seizure, the Council officer will issue a notice of removal to that person. If there is no person present at the time of seizure, Council will attempt to issue the notice of removal to the last known registered owner of the vehicle.

Release of Impounded Vehicles

A vehicle may be re-claimed by the owner or another person acting on the owner’s behalf within one month from the date of the notice upon:

• Completion of an Application for Release of Impounded Goods(PDF, 240KB) form
• Payment of the prescribed release fee per vehicle
• Provision of sufficient evidence to satisfy Council of the person's right of ownership or possession of the vehicle; (e.g. personal identification drivers licence, registration papers, motor dealer documents, a statutory declaration)
• Vehicles must be collected by the owner within 5 days of payment of the release fee.

A person acting on behalf of the owner must satisfy Council of their right to possession and authority to act on behalf of the owner.

All applications for the release of impounded vehicles may be lodged by email to records@isaac.qld.gov.au or Isaac Regional Council, PO Box 97, Moranbah QLD 4744 or deliver in person to your local Isaac Regional Council office.

If a successful claim is not made for the return of a vehicle within one month of impound, then the property in the vehicle vests in the local government and the local government may dispose the vehicle in accordance with Part 7, Section 37(5) (Dealing with seized and impounded items) of Isaac Regional Council's Local Law No. 1 (Administration) 2011(PDF, 7MB).

Note: For safety reasons, an owner seeking the release of an unregistered vehicle must arrange for a licensed tow truck (tray back) to transport the vehicle from Council’s impounded vehicle holding yard.

Unclaimed vehicles

All unclaimed abandoned vehicles are housed at Council’s holding facility until they can be sold at auction or for scrap metal. All auctions are published on Council’s website prior to the auction.

For more information contact Council’s Community Education & Compliance Department for assistant on 1300 ISAACS (1300 472 227). 

ONLINE AUCTION OF IMPOUNDED VEHICLES

The impounded vehicles will be offered for sale by online auction unless the owner thereof or a person acting on the owner’s behalf, or a person claiming a right to possession thereof has sooner obtained possession of the vehicle.

The auction will be conducted online by Pickles Auctioneers, viewing will commence 5 June 2026 with the auction to be held on 9 June 2026.

Information can be found on the following website: www.pickles.com.au

The vehicles will be sold to the highest bidder, unregistered in their current condition.

Council offers no warranties and accepts no responsibility for the condition of the vehicles.

Inspections will be online viewing only.

The vehicles listed in the table below (current as of 14 January 2026) will be offered for sale by public auction.

Council reserves the right to withdraw any vehicle from an advertised auction without prior notice.

Any vehicle purchased at the auction needs to be removed within 7 days or they will be forfeited.

Collection of vehicles is by appointment only. To schedule an appointment contact 1300 ISAACS (1300 472227).