Page 562 - Week 02 - Wednesday, 22 February 2012
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was receiving a disability support pension. Her licence was suspended because she was unable to pay traffic fines within the time limit, and she needs a licence to access appropriate medical and community services. As she cannot pay her traffic fines in full, she cannot drive and is unable to access appropriate medical care which would help her to improve her medical condition. Another example is the story of a former truck driver who could not pay his traffic fines within the time period. This resulted in his licence being fine-suspended, which resulted in the loss of his job. With no job, he was unable to pay rent and became homeless.
These severe and disproportionate impacts do not need to occur. They can be addressed simply by reducing the inflexibility in the system. This can be done in a way that preserves the effectiveness of the fine payment system. The proof is that this is available in several other Australian jurisdictions which already offer administrative flexibility for people who have difficulty paying traffic fines because of disadvantage. In New South Wales a person with a parking or traffic fine can apply to pay in instalments, to pay off their debt via a work and development order or to apply for a waiver of the fine if they have a serious financial, medical or domestic problem. The ACT does not have this available to people.
The bill I am introducing today will address these problems. The bill makes amendments to make the system more flexible, with new payment options and options for provisional reinstatement of fine-suspended licences while fines are being paid. This will be administered by the authorities defined as “administering authorities” under the act, which include both the police and the Road Transport Authority.
In summary, the changes proposed in the bill would allow the following. Firstly, the bill would allow people to apply to the administering authority to pay a traffic infringement fine in instalments. This will save people having to access the court to seek a flexible payment option, which saves court time and reduces the risk of applicants incurring additional costs. It will allow people to pay fines off over time when otherwise they would struggle to pay them without facing significant hardship. An applicant with a Centrelink health care card or pensioner concession card or a Department of Veterans’ Affairs pensioner concession card or gold card will be automatically eligible to pay by instalments. These are the same eligibility criteria for instalment options that already operate in Victoria. It is not a radical proposal.
Under the proposal in this bill, the administering authority will retain discretion in relation to non-cardholders to allow instalment plans if it is justified by the person’s financial circumstances. Applications are to be made within 28 days; however, the authority will be able to accept applications outside this time. This will allow applicants the ability to pay off their fine via instalments once their licence has already been fine-suspended. A person may also have their licence returned while they are paying the fine, allowing them to use their vehicle to access income. A person will also be able to set up automatic deductions from fortnightly Centrelink benefits to pay off a fine. This is a tool that many recipients of Centrelink find helpful for budgeting.
Secondly, the bill would allow people in financial hardship or with special circumstances to apply to the authority to pay off the fine by undertaking community
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