❓ The Attorney General outlines the reforms in the Fines, Penalties and Infringement Notices Enforcement Amendment Bill 2019, focusing on reducing imprisonment for fine defaults, particularly for vulnerable populations and those in remote areas, and introducing alternative enforcement mechanisms like garnishee orders and work and development orders.
AnsweredQoN 826Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
FINES, PENALTIES AND
INFRINGEMENT NOTICES ENFORCEMENT AMENDMENT BILL 2019
826. Ms L.L. BAKER to the Attorney General:
I refer to the McGowan Labor government's
commitment to reforming the way that fines are enforced and recovered in the
state through legislation that will be introduced this week. Can the Attorney
General please outline to the house how these
reforms will impact the regions and address the overrepresentation of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the justice system?
While the Attorney General is at it, can he please tell the house what factors
have led to these changes?
INFRINGEMENT NOTICES ENFORCEMENT AMENDMENT BILL 2019
826. Ms L.L. BAKER to the Attorney General:
I refer to the McGowan Labor government's
commitment to reforming the way that fines are enforced and recovered in the
state through legislation that will be introduced this week. Can the Attorney
General please outline to the house how these
reforms will impact the regions and address the overrepresentation of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in the justice system?
While the Attorney General is at it, can he please tell the house what factors
have led to these changes?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member for Maylands for
the question. This is very important legislation of which I have given notice
this morning, and the second reading will be before Parliament tomorrow. Of
course, this legislation was precipitated by the coroner's inquest into
the untimely death of Ms Dhu, and the State Coroner's recommendations
of 2015, which were not actioned by the previous government. The McGowan Labor
government went to the election with this promise and tomorrow we will deliver
on yet another McGowan Labor government promise made prior to the election.
What it will do, in effect, is make imprisonment for the non-payment of fines a
very, very, very last resort. It will mean that we separate those who just
refuse to pay a fine and those who, because of some hardship or disability, are
unable to. We will be introducing garnishee orders for those who refuse to pay
a fine, to allow the Sheriff's Office to seize money from their bank
account or serve a notice on their employer to pay the fine straight to the
fine's registry. Of course, when we imprison someone for not paying a fine
for $250 a day to cut it out, it costs us $770 a day for the first three days,
dropping down to $320, and we do not get the fine money back. These garnishee
orders will enable us to take the money back.
People who are in true hardship will
be able to apply to the court, at the time or subsequently to their fine being imposed, for a work and development order, which
means that in the regions and elsewhere, community organisations will
become registered service providers and will supervise people serving work and
development orders, and will be audited in Perth. Additionally, if they do
development orders we will be able to address people's underlying
problems such as alcohol or drug abuse.
Finally, the big get for the regions
is that if people lose their driver's licence because they have not
paid their fines, they will not lose their licence if their last residential
address was in a remote area. In remote areas, where there is no public
transport, poor and other people often have to drive get to hospital or visit
family members. They inevitably drive and are charged with unauthorised
driving. They are then charged with a second offence of unauthorised driving
and end up in jail, so we are getting all these extra people in jail. Might I remind
members that in the last year of the Barnett government over 1 000 fine
defaulters were in our prisons. We have been pushing back and asking the
registrar to exercise more discretion. Those numbers were down to 433 in the
last financial year, but after the passage of this legislation they should drop
to nearly zero. We will save $1.8 million for the taxpayers by proceeding in
this way. We have already cut it from $3.55 million in the last year of the
Barnett government down to $1.55 million last year with our suppression of
imprisonment as a sanction for fine default, and will save a further $1.8 million
for the taxpayers by the imposition of this. There will always be imprisonment
as a last resort for non-payment, but that will only be inflicted after the
fine defaulter is brought back before a magistrate and examined by the
magistrate as to their hardship or otherwise. This is going to be fantastic.
the question. This is very important legislation of which I have given notice
this morning, and the second reading will be before Parliament tomorrow. Of
course, this legislation was precipitated by the coroner's inquest into
the untimely death of Ms Dhu, and the State Coroner's recommendations
of 2015, which were not actioned by the previous government. The McGowan Labor
government went to the election with this promise and tomorrow we will deliver
on yet another McGowan Labor government promise made prior to the election.
What it will do, in effect, is make imprisonment for the non-payment of fines a
very, very, very last resort. It will mean that we separate those who just
refuse to pay a fine and those who, because of some hardship or disability, are
unable to. We will be introducing garnishee orders for those who refuse to pay
a fine, to allow the Sheriff's Office to seize money from their bank
account or serve a notice on their employer to pay the fine straight to the
fine's registry. Of course, when we imprison someone for not paying a fine
for $250 a day to cut it out, it costs us $770 a day for the first three days,
dropping down to $320, and we do not get the fine money back. These garnishee
orders will enable us to take the money back.
People who are in true hardship will
be able to apply to the court, at the time or subsequently to their fine being imposed, for a work and development order, which
means that in the regions and elsewhere, community organisations will
become registered service providers and will supervise people serving work and
development orders, and will be audited in Perth. Additionally, if they do
development orders we will be able to address people's underlying
problems such as alcohol or drug abuse.
Finally, the big get for the regions
is that if people lose their driver's licence because they have not
paid their fines, they will not lose their licence if their last residential
address was in a remote area. In remote areas, where there is no public
transport, poor and other people often have to drive get to hospital or visit
family members. They inevitably drive and are charged with unauthorised
driving. They are then charged with a second offence of unauthorised driving
and end up in jail, so we are getting all these extra people in jail. Might I remind
members that in the last year of the Barnett government over 1 000 fine
defaulters were in our prisons. We have been pushing back and asking the
registrar to exercise more discretion. Those numbers were down to 433 in the
last financial year, but after the passage of this legislation they should drop
to nearly zero. We will save $1.8 million for the taxpayers by proceeding in
this way. We have already cut it from $3.55 million in the last year of the
Barnett government down to $1.55 million last year with our suppression of
imprisonment as a sanction for fine default, and will save a further $1.8 million
for the taxpayers by the imposition of this. There will always be imprisonment
as a last resort for non-payment, but that will only be inflicted after the
fine defaulter is brought back before a magistrate and examined by the
magistrate as to their hardship or otherwise. This is going to be fantastic.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.