The Law Handbook 2024

Chapter 3.1: Fines and infringements 109 seized under an enforcement warrant, or a seven-day notice has not expired. Payment arrangements are alsoavailableforcourtfinesandmultipleinfringements; both court fines and multiple infringements can be bundled together into one payment arrangement. A payment arrangement may give you an extension of time to pay the fine, or it may allow you to pay the fine by instalments. There are some particularities of certain court fines which can affect payment plans – these are discussed under ‘Dealing with court fines’. An application for a payment arrangement can be made online at www.online.fines.vic.gov.au/Pay- by-instalments, or in person at Fines Victoria, or in writing (for address details, see ‘Contacts’ at the end of this chapter). An application must include your full name and current address, a description of your financial circumstances, and the reason you are applying for a payment arrangement. Fines Victoria considers your financial circumstances (i.e. your income, expenses, payment history, and whether you are able to pay off the fine within a reasonable time) before deciding whether to make a payment arrangement. Fines Victoria will also consider your liabilities and financial responsibilities and if you have any dependants. The payment arrangement application might also be refused if you have defaulted four or five times (depending on the exact circumstances) since 31 December 2017. If enforcement action (e.g. a wheel clamp) is already in place, an upfront 20 per cent payment is required. You will not be granted a payment arrangement if you owe more than $40 000 in fines. Note that if you are not happy with the payment arrangement offered by Fines Victoria, you may ask Fines Victoria to offer a new payment arrangement with different terms and conditions. If Fines Victoria makes a payment arrangement, the fine is ‘stayed’ (i.e. frozen or suspended) as long as you pay by the time set out in the arrangement or continue to make instalment payments according to the terms of the payment arrangement. However, if you do not make the agreed payments, enforcement can resume. If you are struggling to keep up with the payment arrangement, you can apply to Fines Victoria for a variation of the payment arrangement. If you miss making any payments on time, try to negotiate with Fines Victoria to repay the amount so that the payment arrangement is not cancelled. Although experiencing financial hardship is not technically grounds for a review, consider including in your application a request that the prescribed costs and fees added to the original penalty be waived due to any particular circumstances or hardship you may be experiencing. This may result in a significant reduction in the ultimate amount payable under a payment arrangement (see ‘Requests to waive additional fees’, below). If Fines Victoria refuses to allow you to pay by instalments, and you do not pay the fine within the time limit (21 days from the issue of a notice of final demand), an enforcement warrant may be issued that permits a range of enforcement measures as if you had not taken any action (see ‘What happens if I take no action?’, below). If you can’t pay, seek advice from a financial counsellor (see Chapter 5.4: Financial counselling services). Payment arrangements and traffic offences For a traffic offence where demerit points are part of the penalty, if you arrange to pay by instalments (or pay the fine in full after the time limit specified on the infringement notice) you are still considered to be liable for the offence without having been found guilty in court. The demerit points are still recorded against your licence; however, no conviction is recorded. Requests to waive additional fees Under section 9 of the FR Act, you may apply to Fines Victoria if you believe that you should not have to pay some or all of the extra costs that have been added during the infringements process and there are sufficient grounds to vary the amount of those costs. In certain circumstances, Fines Victoria might agree to vary some of the additional costs that are attached to the fine. This same result might also be achieved by lodging an application for a payment arrangement, which could be lodged simultaneously with an application to waive additional fees (see ‘Apply to Fines Victoria for a payment arrangement’, above). If Fines Victoria decides to vary the amount of costs you are ordered to pay, it must send you a notice setting out the new amount that you owe.