Page 1342 - Week 05 - Tuesday, 9 April 2013
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person to manage their affairs and make it more difficult for the person to pay the outstanding penalties. Quite frankly, a life in chaos is a difficult life to manage.
The inclusion of work and development programs under the umbrella of an infringement notice management plan streamlines the administration of the scheme. Further detail about the range of activities that will be able to be undertaken as part of work and development programs is currently being developed as part of the supporting regulations for this legislation. It is expected that, like the corresponding New South Wales scheme, programs will be able to cover a wide range of activities, including voluntary unpaid community work, medical or mental health treatment, counselling, alcohol or other drug treatment, educational courses or mentoring programs.
The cut-out or discharge rates—that is, the point at which attendance and participation will discharge the amount owed—will depend on the nature of the program and are likely to be similar to the rates in place already in the New South Wales scheme.
Social development programs approved for the purposes of these new arrangements are expected to help people to develop the skills they need to manage or resolve personal and financial issues. These skills may also assist them to avoid the behaviour that resulted in incurring the penalties in the first place.
Consultation with a range of community-based organisations and government agencies has been underway now for a number of months, about how the work and development programs will operate. Clearly there is a need for organisations which currently provide relevant voluntary work or other program opportunities to have their programs approved for the purposes of these arrangements. A person who wants to participate in a work or development program in the territory will need to find a sponsor organisation which can offer the person a place in an approved program.
At this stage it is difficult to predict the potential demand for places in such programs and the number of program organisations which may be interested. However, based on the New South Wales experience, the work and development option is utilised by only a very small proportion of those who owe fines or penalties. Even if they meet the eligibility criteria to participate, most people in New South Wales opt to set up an instalment payment arrangement—which, for people on Centrelink payments or other low incomes, can be paid at a rate of around $5 per week.
The bill remakes provisions of the road transport legislation that deal with the effect of paying a penalty to reflect the introduction of infringement notice management plans and the options of seeking a waiver of penalty, which was another option included in the legislation passed last year.
Entering into a new plan, adding a penalty to an existing plan or having a penalty waived are effectively treated as equivalent to payment of penalty. Once a person enters into a plan or adds a new penalty to their plan, the person is no longer liable for the offence and will not be prosecuted for it. Similarly, for a person who has existing driver licence suspensions or sanctions, once that person enters an infringement notice management plan the Road Transport Authority must revoke the suspension.
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