Hansard debates

                             FINES REFORM BILL 2014
                                 Second reading

  Ms ASHER (Minister for Innovation) -- I move:
  That this bill be now read a second time.
Speech  as  follows incorporated into  Hansard in accordance  with resolution of
house:
  The mechanisms  available  to enforce legal   debts in Victoria   are  costly,
  inconsistent and outdated.

  There  are a range of legal debts commonly  incurred by individuals, including
  fines,  victims compensation orders and civil  judgement  debts,  each  of
  which are owed either to the community on account of breaches of the law or to
  other  individuals  in recompense for  wrongs done or  to  satisfy liabilities
  incurred. The complexity and inefficiencies of existing enforcement mechanisms
  means that recovery of these legal debts can be costly and uncertain.
  The Fines Reform Bill 2014 delivers on the government's commitment to overhaul
  the  current  system  and  introduce  a  new  model  for  the  collection  and
  enforcement of legal debt in Victoria. The new model  established  by the bill
  will allow for the better collection and enforcement of legal debts  and  make
  clear to people who seek to avoid their responsibilities that payment of legal
  debts is an obligation, not an option.

  For  people  suffering  genuine  incapacities  or  hardships,  the  bill  will
  introduce new and better procedures to properly recognise  those  incapacities
  or hardships and provide a way forward.
  This  bill will  provide  for the  introduction  of consistent  and  efficient
  processes for the collection and enforcement of court  and infringement fines,
  with additional and strengthened 

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 enforcement capacity and sanctions and more payment options.
  These  reforms  involve  extensive  operational  changes,  the  development of
  information  communications  technology systems,  and  a raft  of  subordinate
  legislation   amendments.   The   legislation  therefore   provides  for   the
  introduction of the  reforms in stages, and  for the separate commencement  of
  individual components of the reforms. The government has backed its commitment
  to  these  reforms  with  the allocation of $34.6 million of funding over four
  years in the 2013 budget.
  Central to the reforms is  a  focus on the total amount of  fines  owed  by an
  individual, rather than the current transaction-based approach.

  This will ensure that habitual offenders  who incur large amounts of fines and
  seek to evade payment can be more  effectively  brought to account, while also
  providing for vulnerable  people  who accumulate multiple infringements due to
  circumstances such as mental illness  or homelessness to be identified earlier
  on and have their circumstances taken into account.
  I turn now to some of the key reforms.
  Fines Victoria
  Part  2  of  the  bill  creates  the position of director, Fines Victoria,  to
  replace  the  Infringements  Court. The  director  will be  supported  by  the
  establishment  of a  new  administrative  body,  Fines  Victoria,  within  the
  Department of Justice.

  Fines Victoria will be a central, accessible body  for the public to deal with
  in relation  to fines,  providing a  single point of entry to deal with  legal
  debts. This will make it easier  for  individuals  to  access  the  system and
  understand their total liability  and will make payment arrangements easier to
  access by providing consistent payment options and payment methods.
  The  director,  Fines  Victoria,  will  have  powers  to  manage  and  enforce
  infringement fines registered with the director. Alongside infringement fines,
  the  director will have responsibility for managing payment and enforcement of
  court fines immediately after a fine is imposed.
  The  existing protracted timelines for fines enforcement will be  dramatically
  shortened.

  A  person or company in default will be given  21 days under a notice of final
  demand in which to pay the fine  or  take other steps such as entering into  a
  payment  arrangement  or, in the  case  of an infringement  fine, applying for
  enforcement  review. If no action is taken to  pay or  deal with  a registered
  fine after  the expiry  of the  notice of final demand, the director can  take
  enforcement action to  recover  the  fine,  with  similar  enforcement  powers
  exercisable  by the director  for both registered infringement fines and court
  fines.
  Infringement  notices issued to children  will continue to be  enforced by the
  Children's Court under the children and  young  persons'  infringement  notice
  system, rather than by the director. Similarly, the management and enforcement
  of fines imposed on  a child by a court  will continue in accordance with part
  5.3 of the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005.

  Payment arrangements
  The  bill will consolidate  fines  into a single  account and make significant
  improvements to fine payment options and arrangements.
  Currently, under the Infringements Act, a person can enter into a payment plan
  or payment order in respect of  an infringement fine depending on the stage in
  which their matter has progressed in the infringements  lifecycle.  Similarly,
  instalment  orders  and time to pay orders are available for  the  payment  of
  court  fines. However, for court  fines payment options  are  more limited and
  depend on  both court  jurisdiction and  court venue  so that a person with an
  instalment order can only pay an instalment at the court venue  that made  the
  order.

  Under the bill, people with infringements originating  from  several different
  enforcement agencies, registered court fines, and fines at various enforcement
  stages  will be  able to  apply to the director, Fines Victoria, to  pay their
  fines under one payment arrangement.
  Current provisions in the  Infringements Act providing  for payment plans will
  continue to apply to infringement penalties  managed internally by enforcement
  agencies. However, the bill will provide a  person with an infringement notice
  to  request  the  enforcement agency to refer the matter to the  director  for
  inclusion into an existing payment arrangement.
  Work and development permits

  Under the new work and development permit scheme  proposed in  part 17  of the
  bill, vulnerable people and people in acute financial hardship will have  more
  options to  expiate  their  unpaid  infringement  fines.  Work and development
  permits  will  allow  people with  special  circumstances or  people  in acute
  financial  hardship to clear their infringement  fine  debt  through  approved
  activities and  treatment,  including:  unpaid  work, medical or mental health
  treatment, courses, financial counselling, drug and alcohol treatment and, for
  people under 25 years of age, mentoring.
  While  the work and  development  permit scheme will  be  provided by approved
  community   organisations  and   health  practitioners,  the  director,  Fines
  Victoria, will  be  responsible  for  approving  work  and  development permit
  applications and monitoring the operation of the scheme.

  This is a significant new initiative for Victoria and one  that is expected to
  support  our  most  vulnerable  members  of  the  community  to   address  the
  circumstances that lead to offending.
  More effective sanctions
  The Infringements act contains a number  of sanctions for use by infringements
  registrars and the sheriff to enforce unpaid infringement fines. However, some
  of the available sanctions have had limited or  no application  to date due to
  legislative,  administrative  and  technical  barriers   that  prevent   their
  efficient and economical use.
  The bill removes many of these barriers (such as the requirement to personally
  serve a seven-day notice before licence or registration suspension can  occur)
  to enable wider use and greater flexibility in the application of sanctions.

  The  reforms  will also enable their use for the recovery of both infringement
  and court fines.
  Sanctions will therefore be simpler, more  streamlined,  stronger  and,  where
  possible, automated.

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  Enforcement function of the director, Fines Victoria
  The bill provides a range of sanctions  designed to encourage a fine defaulter
  to  engage with Fines Victoria at an early  stage.  Wheel  clamping,  and  the
  ability to  make  a direction  to  suspend licence,  vehicle  registration and
  similar dealings between fine defaulters  and  VicRoads  are enforcement tools
  available  in  the legislation and  will become more  automated, to facilitate
  their broader use  to  encourage  payment  by  a fine defaulter. The bill also
  provides the sheriff with a power to remove  numberplates.  This power will be
  effective where wheel clamping is not possible.
  The  provisions  relating to other existing sanctions (including attachment of
  earnings  and  debts  orders,  charges  over  and sale  of  real  estate,  and
  mechanisms for  enforcement against bodies corporate) will also be  amended to
  enhance their effectiveness.

  These  sanctions may be  applied by the director,  Fines Victoria, where total
  fines exceed  the  prescribed threshold  and  if they are  appropriate  in the
  circumstances.
  In  addition, the director will have  broad  information-gathering  powers  to
  obtain financial information from  people with unpaid fines. The director will
  be  able  to obtain financial  information to determine  the  most appropriate
  sanctions or payment arrangement terms to facilitate payment of unpaid fines.
  The current requirement in the Infringements Act that  a  summons be served to
  orally examine a person and to compel a written financial  statement  has made
  it  difficult to gather  basic  financial information from  people with unpaid
  fines. The  bill  addresses this impediment  by providing the  director, Fines
  Victoria, with  an  efficient and effective administrative mechanism to obtain
  financial information.

  Enforcement warrants
  Part 10 of the bill provides for registrars of the Magistrates Court to issue,
  recall, and cancel enforcement  warrants.  The  director,  Fines Victoria, can
  apply to a registrar for the issuance of an enforcement warrant  in respect of
  a  court  fine  or  infringement  fine   registered  with  the   director  for
  enforcement.  Enforcement  warrants  will  be  directed  to  the  sheriff  for
  execution.
  Enforcement warrants will  provide  the director, Fines Victoria, with another
  method by which  to recover a registered fine. Enforcement warrants  will have
  an indefinite life and  remain in force until the relevant fines are recovered
  or the warrant is cancelled.

  An enforcement warrant issued by a registrar will generally be directed to the
  sheriff  and executed using  powers similar to those  that currently apply  to
  infringement warrants under part 6 of the Infringements Act.
  Removal of the option for prisoners to serve a term of imprisonment in lieu of
  paying outstanding infringement fines
  The bill  will also make  prisoners  more accountable for  legal debts arising
  from  breaches  of  the law by repealing section 161A of the Infringements Act
  2006. The current law provides prisoners with an option to apply for an  order
  from the Magistrates Court to serve a term of  imprisonment in  lieu of paying
  infringement fines outstanding under  infringement warrants. In many cases the
  term of imprisonment ordered for  the unpaid fines is served concurrently with
  a prisoner's existing sentence.

  This  reform  will  ensure  that  prisoners  cannot   absolve   themselves  of
  responsibility  for paying infringement fines incurred  by non-compliance with
  the laws of this state.
  Infringement enforcement periods
  The bill makes  a range of process  improvements to the  current infringements
  system, central  to which is the shortening of the current periods involved in
  enforcing infringements. The bill will significantly  shorten  the  total time
  involved from the  current 168 days to 77  days; a 54 per cent reduction. This
  will  be achieved by  reducing unnecessarily long statutory timeframes at each
  step in the process. The deemed service period will be reduced from 14 days to
  7 days, as well as  the time to pay for infringement notices, penalty reminder
  notices and notices of final demand.

  A shortened enforcement period will  improve  the efficiency and effectiveness
  of  the infringements system.  It  will also enhance  the deterrent effect  of
  administrative enforcement, by enabling  sanctions to be applied closer to the
  time of the offence.
  Review mechanisms -- internal review and enforcement review
  The  bill  also strengthens the  review processes currently  contained  in the
  Infringements Act.
  The  act  currently provides a right for a person issued with an  infringement
  notice to seek internal review of the decision to issue an infringement notice
  by the relevant enforcement  agency. When operating  well, the internal review
  scheme  can  resolve cases that  might otherwise progress  to  the Magistrates
  Court or flow through the infringements system.

  However, this does not always occur in practice.
  The  bill  accordingly  removes  the  legislative 'default to court' mechanism
  after confirming  an  infringement notice  following a  special  circumstances
  application, so that the onus is placed on  enforcement  agencies  to  make an
  active decision to prosecute a matter. This will ensure that vulnerable people
  are  identified at  an earlier  stage. It  will also reduce the burden  on the
  Magistrates Court by  reducing the number  of  infringement matters  that  are
  referred for determination.
  Currently, the  Infringements Act  provides individuals with  infringements at
  enforcement  stage  with  a right to apply to a registrar of the Infringements
  Court to have an enforcement order revoked.

  The bill establishes a new  administrative process called 'enforcement review'
  to replace the  revocation  process, which will be available after a matter is
  registered with the director for enforcement.
  Enforcement  review  will  largely mirror internal review. The  bill  provides
  clarity  and  certainty around the  grounds  for review at  this  later stage.
  Significantly,  the  bill  will  require  enforcement  agencies to 'opt-in' to
  prosecute  a matter  if  the director  determines  that enforcement using  the
  administrative model is not  appropriate.  This  significant change to current
  practice will help to ensure that only matters that should be prosecuted enter
  the court system.
  Monitoring and reporting function of the director, Fines Victoria

  The  bill  provides for mandated  oversight and reporting  by  the director of
  infringements activity undertaken by enforcement 

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 agencies and,  importantly,  the  operation  of  the  internal  review  scheme.
Enforcement agencies  will  be  required to  report  to the  director  on  their
activities under the  Infringements  Act and in  particular, on internal  review
processes, decisions, and outcomes. This will  enable  more effective monitoring
of agency compliance with the law and help ensure consistent and fairer internal
review decisions within, and across, enforcement agencies. Currently,  there  is
no legislative oversight of enforcement agencies.
  Victims compensation orders
  To reduce some  of the cost burdens on victims of crime, the  bill also waives
  certain  sheriff warrant fees  relating to the execution  of civil warrants to
  enforce compensation orders.

  Where a compensation order has been  made  against  an  offender  who is found
  guilty or convicted of an offence, and that person has not paid, one method of
  enforcement  is  by  way  of warrants for the seizure of property,  which  are
  directed to the sheriff for  execution.  At present, the victim bears the cost
  of obtaining a warrant from the relevant court and paying any applicable court
  fees and costs. This can deter many  victims  from  taking  action  to enforce
  payment of their compensation  orders. The amendments will make it easier  and
  more  affordable for victims of  crime to seek  enforcement  of a compensation
  order.
  Civil warrant powers
  An existing power within the Sheriff Act 2009 enables the Sheriff to use force
  and assistance to enter the residential  premises  of  a  debtor  to execute a
  civil warrant between the hours of 9.00 a.m. and 5.00 p.m.

  The bill amends the Sheriff Act to extend those hours to between 7.00 a.m. and
  9.30 p.m.
  The  bill also  amends the Sheriff  Act to  provide that  if the  sheriff uses
  reasonable force and assistance to enter residential premises for  the purpose
  of executing  a criminal warrant outside the hours of 7.00 a.m. to 9.30  p.m.,
  the sheriff may, after gaining entry, also execute a property seizure warrant.
  Conclusion
  The Fines Reform Bill 2014 will modernise and strengthen Victoria's legal debt
  collection system -- a regime that has long been in need of reform.

  By centralising fines recovery processes into one model,  simplifying  payment
  arrangements,  and  providing  more  effective  sanctions and more options for
  vulnerable people to deal with fines, The bill will  ensure that offenders who
  deliberately  seek to avoid paying  their fines are  brought to account, while
  also better providing for people who genuinely cannot pay their fines.
  I commend the bill to the house.
Debate adjourned on motion of Mr ANDREWS (Leader of the Opposition).
Debate adjourned until Thursday, 22 May.