From the FRNSW (Fire & Rescue NSW) web site:
From 1 July 2013 the false alarm charge will increase to $1250.
In certain circumstances, such as for storms and other natural disasters, false alarms will not be charged if the alarm was beyond the control of the owner.
There are additional circumstances (leniencies) resulting in no charge, including:
One false alarm within a 60 day period will not be charged. Subsequent false alarms which occur within 60 days of the first alarm will be charged.
A 24 hour leniency period applies in which repeat false alarms will not be charged. Only the first alarm will be charged within the 24 hours. Multiple false alarms within a 24 hour period are considered a one off event giving the business owner or manager time to rectify their alarm system.
Billing of charges
Building owners or managers are responsible and accountable for the payment of false alarm charges resulting from unwanted false alarms. FRNSW invoices AFASPs (Automatic Fire Alarm Service Providers), they in turn invoice building owners or managers.
FRNSW is not involved where owners forward false alarm costs on to a third party, such as hotel guests when the activation resulted from normal occupant activities such as cooking and showering.
Queensland has a similar policy, and I suspect the other states do likewise.
Editor’s acronym whinge: I had no idea what FRNSW or AFASP meant and had to go and look them up. It’s a lot easier if posters spell out acronyms and abbreviations the first time they use them, however familiar they may be with them.