In nearly every Australian state and territory, there are thousands of people facing prison time due to unpaid fines.
This is despite a number of legal and human rights organisations pushing for this to be stopped completely, and several deaths in custody of people who were imprisoned because of not being able to pay a fine.
These are often parking fines or toll road costs that have increased over time.
In Victoria, there are more than 2,500 people subject to an imprisonment warrant due to unpaid fines that sometimes come from a decade ago.
The state government recently extended a pause on enforcing these warrants for another two months, but has stopped short of scrapping them completely.
The Fines Infringement Working Group, whose members including legal and human rights groups, has called on governments around the country to completely abolish the threat of imprisonment for unpaid fines.
In New South Wales, South Australia and the Northern Territory, you cannot be imprisoned for unpaid fines.
But if you are ordered to complete community service instead of paying a fine and then do not complete this order, you can still face incarceration in these jurisdictions.
In Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, Tasmania and the ACT, imprisonment is still an option if someone cannot or does not pay a fine, but it is meant to be a last resort.
“We don’t think anyone should be imprisoned for not paying fines,” Inner Melbourne Community Legal managing lawyer and member of the Fines Infringement Working Group Shifrah Blustein told About Time.
“We also think that just threatening to imprison people is enough to cause serious harm.”
“We don’t think prison functions as a deterrent – this is just punishing people for being poor.”
NSW was the first state to ban the imprisonment of people for defaulting on a fine following the tragic case of Jamie Partlic.
Partlic was 18 years old when he was sent to prison for four days in 1987 for unpaid traffic and parking fines totaling just over $1,000. When in prison, he was assaulted in an attack that left him a quadriplegic.
The following year, the NSW government abolished the practice of imprisoning people for unpaid fines.
In Western Australia, the tragic death of First Nations woman Ms Dhu led to reforms around fines and prison time.
Ms Dhu died in police custody in 2014 following what the Coroner said was “inhumane treatment”. She had been arrested two days earlier for unpaid fines of just over $3.500, and was ordered to serve four days in prison to repay the fines.
Following this case, the WA government moved to make imprisonment a last resort for unpaid fines, and to require a Magistrate to make this decision.
In Victoria, changes in 2017 provided help for the victims of family and domestic violence who have outstanding fines, and established Fines Victoria as the agency responsible for enforcement.
In Victoria, imprisonment for unpaid fines is also meant to be a last resort.
If an individual is receiving support from an approved community agency, counsellor or doctor, they can apply for a work and development permit. This allows the individual to complete work, counselling, training or education instead of repaying
the fine.
But someone subject to a fine can also eventually be ordered to appear before a Magistrate, who has the pay to send them to prison over this issue.
In nearly every Australian state and territory, there are thousands of people facing prison time due to unpaid fines.
This is despite a number of legal and human rights organisations pushing for this to be stopped completely, and several deaths in custody of people who were imprisoned because of not being able to pay a fine.
These are often parking fines or toll road costs that have increased over time.
In Victoria, there are more than 2,500 people subject to an imprisonment warrant due to unpaid fines that sometimes come from a decade ago.
The state government recently extended a pause on enforcing these warrants for another two months, but has stopped short of scrapping them completely.
The Fines Infringement Working Group, whose members including legal and human rights groups, has called on governments around the country to completely abolish the threat of imprisonment for unpaid fines.
In New South Wales, South Australia and the Northern Territory, you cannot be imprisoned for unpaid fines.
But if you are ordered to complete community service instead of paying a fine and then do not complete this order, you can still face incarceration in these jurisdictions.
In Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, Tasmania and the ACT, imprisonment is still an option if someone cannot or does not pay a fine, but it is meant to be a last resort.
“We don’t think anyone should be imprisoned for not paying fines,” Inner Melbourne Community Legal managing lawyer and member of the Fines Infringement Working Group Shifrah Blustein told About Time.
“We also think that just threatening to imprison people is enough to cause serious harm.”
“We don’t think prison functions as a deterrent – this is just punishing people for being poor.”
NSW was the first state to ban the imprisonment of people for defaulting on a fine following the tragic case of Jamie Partlic.
Partlic was 18 years old when he was sent to prison for four days in 1987 for unpaid traffic and parking fines totaling just over $1,000. When in prison, he was assaulted in an attack that left him a quadriplegic.
The following year, the NSW government abolished the practice of imprisoning people for unpaid fines.
In Western Australia, the tragic death of First Nations woman Ms Dhu led to reforms around fines and prison time.
Ms Dhu died in police custody in 2014 following what the Coroner said was “inhumane treatment”. She had been arrested two days earlier for unpaid fines of just over $3.500, and was ordered to serve four days in prison to repay the fines.
Following this case, the WA government moved to make imprisonment a last resort for unpaid fines, and to require a Magistrate to make this decision.
In Victoria, changes in 2017 provided help for the victims of family and domestic violence who have outstanding fines, and established Fines Victoria as the agency responsible for enforcement.
In Victoria, imprisonment for unpaid fines is also meant to be a last resort.
If an individual is receiving support from an approved community agency, counsellor or doctor, they can apply for a work and development permit. This allows the individual to complete work, counselling, training or education instead of repaying
the fine.
But someone subject to a fine can also eventually be ordered to appear before a Magistrate, who has the pay to send them to prison over this issue.
The Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS) has been pushing for the scrapping of imprisonment as a result of unpaid fines for decades.
“Fundamentally, imprisoning people for unpaid fines is unjust,” VALS CEO Nerita Waight told About Time. “It punishes people experiencing poverty, not for any wrongdoing.”
There are more than 3,000 imprisonment warrants for unpaid fines in Victoria, some from up to a decade ago. These relate to unpaid fines to a road toll operator.
The Victorian government has paused enforcing these warrant since early 2024, but there are growing fears that it will move to try to collect the funds soon.
Blustein said she had clients who have ended in prison because of unpaid fines.
“We started seeing some people end up in custody,” she said. “We had somebody who had a sheriff show up at their home, and years later she had to go to court. She ended up putting it all on a credit card, and then had to go and get a payday loan to pay it back.”
There are still thousands of people in Victoria facing jail time because of these unpaid fines.
“The reality is that the people who got to this position with their fines are the ones who couldn’t afford to pay, whether due to homelessness, a mental health crisis or family violence,” Blustein said.
“The clients we see still don’t have any capacity to pay. They’re already struggling in the cost of living crisis, they’re under enormous stress.”
A spokesperson for the Victorian government said it had paused the practice of imprisoning people for unpaid fines and there were “no plans” to resume this. They said imprisonment is a “last resort” and can only be ordered by a court.
If someone is struggling to pay a fine, they are encouraged to reach out to the agency that issued it or Fines Victoria. There are also schemes in place to help people experiencing hardship, such as the Family Violence Scheme and the Work and Development Permit Scheme.
In Queensland, imprisonment for a fine is also a last resort that can only be enforced if a judge or the state’s State Penalties Enforcement Registry is sure that the debt cannot be resolved through a different way.
Fine options are available in Queensland, which allow someone to do community service if they are unable to pay a fine.
The Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS) has been pushing for the scrapping of imprisonment as a result of unpaid fines for decades.
“Fundamentally, imprisoning people for unpaid fines is unjust,” VALS CEO Nerita Waight told About Time. “It punishes people experiencing poverty, not for any wrongdoing.”
There are more than 3,000 imprisonment warrants for unpaid fines in Victoria, some from up to a decade ago. These relate to unpaid fines to a road toll operator.
The Victorian government has paused enforcing these warrant since early 2024, but there are growing fears that it will move to try to collect the funds soon.
Blustein said she had clients who have ended in prison because of unpaid fines.
“We started seeing some people end up in custody,” she said. “We had somebody who had a sheriff show up at their home, and years later she had to go to court. She ended up putting it all on a credit card, and then had to go and get a payday loan to pay it back.”
There are still thousands of people in Victoria facing jail time because of these unpaid fines.
“The reality is that the people who got to this position with their fines are the ones who couldn’t afford to pay, whether due to homelessness, a mental health crisis or family violence,” Blustein said.
“The clients we see still don’t have any capacity to pay. They’re already struggling in the cost of living crisis, they’re under enormous stress.”
A spokesperson for the Victorian government said it had paused the practice of imprisoning people for unpaid fines and there were “no plans” to resume this. They said imprisonment is a “last resort” and can only be ordered by a court.
If someone is struggling to pay a fine, they are encouraged to reach out to the agency that issued it or Fines Victoria. There are also schemes in place to help people experiencing hardship, such as the Family Violence Scheme and the Work and Development Permit Scheme.
In Queensland, imprisonment for a fine is also a last resort that can only be enforced if a judge or the state’s State Penalties Enforcement Registry is sure that the debt cannot be resolved through a different way.
Fine options are available in Queensland, which allow someone to do community service if they are unable to pay a fine.
