Penalties and Sentences Act 1992

A court that orders an offender to pay a penalty may also order that, if the offender fails to pay the penalty immediately or within the time allowed by the court in its order, the offender is to be imprisoned for a term calculated—

under subsection (2)(a); or

by dividing the amount of the penalty by the cut-out rate mentioned in the SPE Act, schedule 2, definition cut-out rate, paragraph (a), rounded down to the nearest whole number and expressed as a number of days.

The term of imprisonment—

must be—

the term that, in the court’s opinion, will satisfy the justice of the case; but

not more than 14 days imprisonment for each penalty unit, or part of a penalty unit, that the offender was ordered to pay; and

must be served cumulatively with any term of imprisonment the offender is serving, or has been sentenced to serve, unless the court orders otherwise.

This section has effect—

subject to the Act under which the penalty is ordered to be paid; and

despite section 152, whether or not a conviction is recorded.