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Other Parliamentary SpeechesThis page is dedicated to Peter's speeches during parliament that do not fall under Questions or Questions without notice. They range from debating legislation, reporting on events or issues in his seat of Southport and his Ministerial Statements.
State Penalties Enforcement and Other Legislation Amendment Bill |
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| Posted by Administrator (admin) on Feb 21 2007 |
| Other Speeches >> |
Mr LAWLOR (Southport-ALP) (4.13 pm): I support the State Penalties Enforcement and Other Legislation Amendment Bill. Fines and monetary penalties issued in Queensland-for instance, by courts, police and so on-are collected or attempted to be collected by the State Penalties Enforcement Registry, known by the acronym SPER, which began operating in the year 2000.
Effectively, SPER centralised collection of fines and penalties which was previously carried out by courts and individual agencies. This of course led to massive duplication and waste of resources. SPER collects and enforces most court ordered fines-which would normally be a Magistrates Court type fine-infringement notices, penalties and fees, compensation and restitution, and amounts forfeited under undertakings and recognisances.
This bill improves and streamlines the operation of the SPER fine collection system. It amends the State Penalties Enforcement Act 1999, the Bail Act 1980, the Justices Act 1886 and the Penalties and
Sentences Act 1992. It will give debtors a variety of payment options and they will be available much earlier than is usually the case. As with any business, it is well known that the sooner contact is made with a debtor the more likely it is that the debt will be recovered. At the moment when a court imposes a fine or penalty, a period of time is given to pay-usually three months. Also, an order is usually made that in the event of default a period of imprisonment is imposed. Therefore, if the fine is unpaid the court has a choice to issue a warrant for the arrest and imprisonment of the debtor or give details of the debt to SPER for collection.
Some 40 per cent of debtors pay the fines and 60 per cent are registered with SPER for collection and enforcement. Ninety per cent of SPER debtors pay by methods not available to the courts-for
instance, Centrelink debits-but they cannot be used during the time-to-pay period. As a result, if there is three months given to pay the fine, those alternative methods of payment are not available.
These amendments will allow the court to notify SPER of the amount of the fine or the penalty at any time after the court order is made so the alternative methods of payment will be immediately available to the debtor. This will improve the effectiveness of the collection of those amounts through the use of SPER's largely automated fine collection system. There will be a variety of flexible payment options offered by SPER, including Centrelink debts, which I have mentioned, direct debits and 24-hour telephone and internet banking.
One amendment to the bill will ensure that all unpaid amounts of a debtor are included in the one instalment payment plan issued to the debtor. For example, if a debtor has five or six fines, they would be
aggregated and the subject of one instalment payment plan. The bill will also allow a debtor to use the phone or internet to make an application to SPER for various matters instead of being limited to the written applications which are required now. Currently the SPER registrar is able to make a good behaviour order only after a debtor has provided a report from a doctor confirming that the debtor is not suitable to perform community service, cannot pay or continue to pay the fine and that it would be inappropriate for payment to be enforced by the issuing of a warrant by the SPER registrar for the debtor's arrest or imprisonment.
What is achieved by imprisoning a debtor? For several hundred dollars he or she may be imprisoned for several weeks which costs the taxpayer thousands of dollars. There is also the family
dislocation and employment disruption which follows. A debtor may lose his job if he has one and end up a bigger burden on the community. Imprisonment, although sometimes unavoidable, is not a cost-effective enforcement tool. Because of the mandatory requirements, there are very few good behaviour orders made even though they would often be appropriate. The present system particularly disadvantages debtors such as the homeless, mentally ill and those with impaired decision-making capacity. As a result of
this bill, the SPER registrar can make a good behaviour order if he is satisfied the debtor is unable to pay the fine and is not suitable for community service or imprisonment. Therefore, the registrar can effectively inform himself in any way he deems appropriate and can write-off unpaid fines in the appropriate circumstances. The bill will lead to a more efficient and user friendly fine penalty collection system in Queensland, and I commend the bill to the House.
Last changed: [PUBLISHED_DATE] at 10:10 AM
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