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Fines Victoria
What
is the Fines Victoria?
Fines Victoria is the administrative body that collects all outstanding fines owed to government and enforcement agencies. This includes court fines, on the spot fines, parking fines etc. On 1 January 2018 Fines Victoria took over the roles that were previously performed by Civic Compliance Victoria and the Infringements Court. Prior to July 2006 the Infringements
Court was known as the PERIN
Court.
What
is the infringement enforcement
process?
Fine
is issued
There
are over 100 government authorities
that are authorised to issue
on-the-spot fines in the form of
infringement notices and penalty
notices. If a person pays the penalty
shown on an infringement notice, the
matter comes to an end. No further
proceedings may be taken in respect of
the offence. No conviction is recorded
unless it is a licence loss
infringement notice.
If
an infringement notice suspends or
cancels the person's driver's licence,
the person must lodge an objection
within 28 days of the date of the
notice if they wish to avoid licence
loss or challenge the matter in court.
It also stops a conviction being
recorded against them for the offence
alleged in the notice. The licence
loss aspect is enforced by VicRoads.
The financial penalty component is
enforced at Fines Victoria.
It is not possible to contest any part
of a licence loss infringement notice
unless the driver lodges an
objection to the notice within 28 days of the date the notice was issued.
Reminder
Letter
When
a
person fails to pay within time a fine
that does not carry licence
loss (such as a parking fine, most
traffic fines or a litter fine) the
person is sent a reminder letter. A person who
receives a reminder letter is given
another 28 days to pay the penalty
together with a small recovery fee
added on top. If the person wants to
challenge the infringement offence
they need to elect within the
permitted time to have the matter
heard and determined in court.
Instructions on how to send in your
election to go to court can be
found on the reverse of the
infringement notice or the back of the
reminder letter. If the election is
given within time (i.e. before an
enforcement order is made), the
infringement notice will be withdrawn
and a charge and summons will be
served for the alleged offence. If the
enforcement agency (e.g. the police or
a council) wishes to prosecute
the offender the agency must file and
serve a charge and summons. In
the majority of cases the charge must
be filed at court within 12
months of the date of the offence.
Notice of Final Demand
A
person who fails to pay the fine and
fails to lodge an election to take
the infringement to court risks having
the penalty enforced. Fines Victoria
will issue a Notice of Final Demand. More costs will then be
incurred and the offender will be
asked to pay the infringement penalty
and costs
within a specified time or else a
warrant will be issued to recover the
debt. The Notice of Final Demand is usually issued about two months after the
reminder letter is sent. This also causes demerit
points to accrue in respect of many
traffic offences. Once a Notice of Final Demand has been issued it is usually too late to elect to take the case to court, or to nominate a responsible person for owner-onus offences.
If
you wish to contest an infringement
notice but
you are too late to elect to take it
to court, you might be eligible for an extension of time application, or in rare circumstances you might be eligible to make an application for enforcement review.
Enforcement
Warrant issued
If
the debt remains unpaid,
the agency that issued the fine will cause a warrant to be issued to recover the debt. The
warrant directs the Sheriff to seize
and sell the person's property to
raise sufficient money to pay the
debt, or alternatively to arrest the
person and detain the person for so
many days as is required to expiate
the penalty at the rate of one day of
imprisonment for each $192.00 of debt.
Enforcement Warrant Executed
When
the
sheriff knocks on a person's door to
execute the warrant the
sheriff will give the person 7 days to
pay the debt before carting away
his/her property or - more likely
- arresting the person.
Property seized by the sheriff is
eventually sold by public auction if
the debtor continues to fail to pay
the debt. If the sheriff arrests
you, you will be bailed to attend
court on a date in about a month's
time. You should see a lawyer if you
want help to reduce the debt
and/or manage the repayments and/or
avoid imprisonment. The
higher
the debt, the greater the advantages
you will get by using a
lawyer and the greater the money you
will save.
When
the sheriff seizes a person's
property, the sheriff normally places
a sticker on the property claiming
legal or "walking" possession of the
property. The sheriff leaves the
property in the physical possession of
the debtor for 7 days or so and
provides the debtor a chance to pay
the debt or come to an acceptable
arrangement. The debtor is not allowed
to deal with the property in any way
that is inconsistent with the right of
the sheriff to remove the property and
sell it.
If
you
get arrested, the sheriff will bail
you to attend a Magistrates
Court at a Penalty Enforcement Warrant
hearing. At this hearing the
court wants to know what you are going
to do about paying off the debt.
You can apply for a reduction in the
debt which should succeed if you
have a good explanation or exceptional
circumstances. Often very
significant reductions can be
achieved, especially if special
circumstances
(homelessness, drug addiction, mental
health problems) apply. The court
will usually allow you time to pay or
it will make an installment order.
The court also has power to sentence
you to a term of imprisonment at a
rate of approximately one day per
$192.00 of debt. You can also be
order to do community work in place of
imprisonment. If an installment
order is made, the court will usually
order you to serve a jail term in
respect of the balance of the debt if
you default in making any
payment. The court will not order
community work if the total debt is
over $10,000.
Application for Enforcement Review.
When
a person ignores many enforcement
orders/final demands over a long period of time, the
day the sheriff eventually catches up
with them the debt can be tens of
thousands of dollars, and the number
of weeks or months in prison to 'pay'
off the debt can be frightening. It is
the sheriff's warrant that is
empowering the sheriff to seize
property or make an arrest, and this
warrant is founded on the enforcement
order. The enforcement order can be
revoked by the Infringements Court at
any time prior to the warrant being
executed (prior to payment of money,
seizure of goods or arrest of a
person). A person in this position
might be advised to seek revocation of
the enforcement orders which, if
successful, will see the warrants
founded upon them disappear. It will also result in the fines and any demerit points being set aside - at least until such time as a Magistrates Court deals with the offence. An application for Enforcement Review can be made online or by filling out the form at Fines Victoria. Sometimes it is best to make an application for an extension of time instead of, or in addition to, making an application for enforcement review, so see an experienced lawyer to get advice if getting the right outcome is critical to you.
if your application for enforcement review is rejected, as most of them are, you might like to seek advice on how to handle the case from there. In many cases the next step is to prepare to be arrested by the sheriff and brought to court on a penalty enforcement warrant, at which point you will be able to apply to a Magistrate for a reduction of your debt.
Contacting Fines Victoria
Telephone: (03) 9200 8111.
- Address: 277 William
Street, Melbourne
- GPO Box 1916
Melbourne VIC 3001
- Penalty Notice enquiries: (03) 9200
8111
- Country callers (free call) 1800 150
410
Sheriff's Office Enquiries: (03) 9200
8222
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