The Law Handbook 2024

Chapter 3.1: Fines and infringements 105 or, if no due date is specified, pay within 14 days of receiving notice of the agency’s decision. You can also apply for a work and development permit (see ‘Option 9: Apply for a work and development permit’, below). Note that if you do nothing, the infringement will be registered with Fines Victoria. You can then apply for an enforcement review based on any of the grounds outlined below including special circumstances if special circumstances apply (see ‘Option 7: Apply for an enforcement review from Fines Victoria’, below). Public transport fines issued to young people and people seeking asylum – extended internal review options The Department of Transport has established a program recognising that young people experiencing disadvantage and people seeking asylum can be harshly impacted by public transport fines. Under the program: • people on a Bridging Visa E or people living in Australia without a visa; and • young people under 18 (but some exceptions may be made for young people over 18) experiencing educational disadvantage or disengagement, disability, family violence or family disadvantage, housing instability, mental health concerns (not necessary to have a diagnosis), addiction or financial hardship can request that their ticketing or feet on seats fine be withdrawn and replaced with an official warning. A support agency working with the young person or person seeking asylum should fill out the form confirming the person meets the eligibility criteria. Contact Transport Regulatory Operations Youth At Risk Program (see ‘Contacts’ at the end of this chapter) to request the form or make an application. Special circumstances Overview For the purposes of the infringements system, special circumstances are: • a mental or intellectual disability, disorder, disease or illness or a serious addiction to drugs, alcohol or a volatile substance, that contributes to the person having a significantly reduced capacity to: an extra 21 days to consider their options for dealing with the infringement. An application for an internal review can be made on more than one of the grounds listed above. A young person (i.e. under 18 years of age) can apply for an internal review. Note that it is not possible to apply for an internal review for drug-driving or drink- driving offences, for boating offences, or for excessive speeding offences (i.e. more than 130 km per hour or 25 km per hour over the speed limit). Internal review process Each internal review is conducted by an officer who was not involved with issuing the infringement. Reviews must be completed within 90 days of the enforcement agency receiving the application; although, this can be increased by up to 35 days if the agency seeks additional information. If you cannot supply such additional information within 14 days of being asked to do so by the enforcement agency, you can request an extension of time. The agency can take additional information into account in deciding your application, even if you provide it out of time. However, the agency is not obliged to consider extra information supplied out of time, so request an extension of time if needed. Once an enforcement agency receives an application for an internal review, it must suspend any enforcement action until it has completed the internal review and advised you of the outcome. The agency may decide to cancel the fine and instead issue you with an official warning. If the agency withdraws or cancels the notice, no further action will be taken against you. If the agency does not withdrawor cancel the notice, you need to consider your options, such as paying the fine, paying the fine by instalments, obtaining an extension of time in which to pay the fine, or contesting the fine by referring the matter to court. Note that unless you have applied for an internal review based on special circumstances, an agency may refuse your application for an internal review and refer the matter to court (see ‘Going to court’, below). This is a risk you need to be aware of if you apply for an internal review on grounds other than special circumstances. If you opt to pay the fine, you should pay by the due date on the agency’s notice of its decision