The Department of Communities and Justice has announced major changes to the State’s fines system making it easier for people to pay or resolve their fines and in some cases see their fines reduced by 50 per cent.
The Department said that from 1 July an unprecedented initiative would be introduced to reduce fine amounts for people facing financial hardship as well as allowing everyone to pay by instalments and providing more time for a fine to be reviewed.
Treasurer Dominic Perrottet said there was no better time to make the system simpler and fairer for the people of NSW.
“In making the system fairer, we have maintained the deterrent factor by ensuring all other penalties still apply, so if you were speeding, for example, you will still receive the full demerit points,” Mr Perrottet said.
“These fines should be exactly that, a deterrent, not an out of scale punishment,” he said.
Mr Perrottet said the Government wanted to help people who were in extreme financial hardship by allowing them to apply to have their fine amount reduced by 50 per cent.
Attorney General Mark Speakman said customers in acute financial hardship who were in receipt of a Government benefit at the time of their fine, and applied before the fine was overdue, could be considered for a reduction in their fine amount.
Mr Speakman said fine amount reductions were not available to those who had been issued a fine by a court, voting-related fine, jury duty fine or a fine issued to a body corporate.
“These reforms will strike the right balance, ensuring we hold people to account for breaking the rules and endangering our roads, but without placing undue burdens on disadvantaged members of our community,” Mr Speakman said.
