Legislation dealing with enforcement of fines and infringement notices

23/11/94

The imprisonment rate in Western Australia of fine defaulters is expected to drop dramatically as a result of new legislation introduced in State Parliament today by Attorney General Cheryl Edwardes.

"The legislation sets out a new co-ordinated approach for dealing with the enforcement of fines and infringement notices," Mrs Edwardes said.

"The 'Fines, Penalties and Infringement Notices Enforcement Bill' is an important step in the Government's approach to criminal justice reforms.

"In 1992-93 approximately 450,000 infringement notices were issued by the police and local government and around 100,000 fines were imposed in the Courts of Petty Sessions.

"At present there is more than $13 million outstanding in unpaid fines, many of which have been outstanding for more than 12 months.

"This Bill addresses critical problems presently experienced in the enforcement of fines and infringement notices in WA, particularly the inappropriate jailing of fine defaulters, many of whom are Aboriginal.

"Problems being experienced under the present system include:

·       no incentive to pay fines promptly and avoidance of payment;

·       a massive waste of police resources;

·       offenders who can pay but refuse to pay using valuable Government resources;

·       a system open to abuse; and -

·       inappropriate imprisonment.

"This Bill sets out two separate systems for fine enforcement, one for court fines, the other for infringement notices.

"The purpose of the new approach is to strengthen the use of fines as a sentencing option, increase the payment of fines without enforcement, minimise costly enforcement actions and significantly reduce the number of fine defaulters going to prison."

COURT FINE SYSTEM

·       Under this system a court administrative officer will consider and grant the time needed to pay a fine reducing the time needed for judicial officers to deal with such administrative matters.  However, judicial officers will continue to decide if a fine is an appropriate penalty and the amount.

·       If the fine is unpaid the offender will be given 28 days notice to pay the fine or have his/her driver's licence suspended.

·       If after 28 days no payment has been made the offender's driver's licence will be suspended and only reinstated upon full payment of the fine.

"The system can be applied to all types of offences not only those related to traffic matters.  Suspension of a person's driver's licence will be the final sanction given 87 per cent of the adult population currently possess a driver's licence," Mrs Edwardes said.

"Fine defaulters who do not possess a driver's licence will be subject to a warrant of execution to seize goods or land which will be sold to pay the fine.

"Warrants of execution will also be issued where, after a suitable period of time, licence suspension is found to be ineffective.

"Those who genuinely do not have the funds or the resources to pay will be required to undertake compulsory community work.

"Only as an absolute last resort would a person now be subjected to imprisonment for fine defaulting.

"The system will apply to all matters dealt with in Courts of Petty Session, adult offenders convicted in the Children's Court and other courts such as the Industrial Court and the Liquor Licensing Court."

Judges of the Supreme and District Court will have the system available to them as an enforcement option.

INFRINGEMENT NOTICE SYSTEM

Under this system an offender will have a total of 112 days allowed for payment before licence suspension takes place.  The licence suspension is the final sanction against unpaid infringement notices which means it will NO longer be possible to be jailed for not paying an infringement notice.

"The introduction of the systems will coincide with a comprehensive public education campaign to fully inform the community of the changes," the Attorney General announced.

"A two-month moratorium will be given from the date of proclamation to allow persons who have existing fines or infringement notices the opportunity to pay and therefore avoid being subjected to the new enforcement system.

"Licence suspension will only commence after the public education campaign and the moratorium are completed."

The Bill creates a Fine Enforcement Registry which will be responsible for monitoring the effectiveness of the systems and ensuring that the public receive comprehensive information on fine enforcement matters.

The Registry will manage all stages of the enforcement process.

"The new system also includes initiatives to reduce the default rate for Aboriginal offenders," Mrs Edwardes said.

"Five courts around the State, (Kununurra, Roebourne, Geraldton, Kalgoorlie and Perth) will have Aboriginal Fines Officers whose role will be to explain to the defaulter their obligations in terms and language they understand and make suitable arrangements to pay.

"The new systems will deliver quantifiable benefits to the community including nearly an extra $11 million a year through increased effectiveness, an expected $6.5 million in revenue from the 100,000 warrants for outstanding fines and freeing a number of  police and community corrections officers to do the job they were meant to.

"The imprisonment for non-payment of fines is expected to drop from approximately 1,800 a year to 400.  It is expected that the number of persons in police lock-ups for fine default will also reduce dramatically.

"The system of licence suspension as a fine enforcement mechanism is already in use in New South Wales.

"In that State there has not been a significant increase in the incidences of driving without a licence and it has resulted in better than a 95 per cent payment rate."

Media contact:  Diana Russell Coote 421 7777