Fines Enforcement and Debt Recovery Act 2017

This

Act may be cited as the Fines

Enforcement and Debt Recovery Act 2017.

In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears—

approved treatment program means a treatment program of a prescribed kind that has been approved by the Minister for the purposes of this definition;

approved treatment program manager means a person who has general oversight of approved treatment programs and coordinates the implementation of relevant court orders and relevant determinations of the Chief Recovery Officer (and includes a delegate of such a person);

authorised officer means—

the

Sheriff; or

the

Chief Recovery Officer; or

a

Registrar of the Magistrates Court; or

the

Registrar of the Youth Court; or

a person appointed under section 67 as an authorised officer;

bond means an agreement (not being a bail agreement) entered into pursuant to the sentence of a court under which the defendant undertakes to the Crown to comply with the conditions of the agreement;

case manager means a person responsible for supervision of a person's participation in an approved treatment program;

council means a council constituted under the Local

Government Act 1999;

court means a court of criminal jurisdiction;

Court means—

in relation to a debtor who is a youth or an expiation notice issued to a person who was under the age of 18 years at the time of the alleged offence—the Youth Court;

in relation to any other debtor or expiation notice—the Magistrates

Court;

debtor means (other than in Part 8) the person by whom a pecuniary sum is payable;

driver's licence means a licence under the Motor

Vehicles Act 1959;

expiation notice means an expiation notice under the Expiation of Offences Act 1996;

expiation period means the period specified in an expiation notice for payment of the expiation fee (in the absence of an arrangement under section 20);

issuing authority, in relation to an expiation notice, means—

if the notice is given by a police officer—the Commissioner of

Police; or

in any other case—the Minister, statutory authority or council on whose behalf the notice is given;

land means, according to the context—

land as a physical entity, including—

any building or structure on, or improvement to, land (whether affixed to the land or not); and

land covered by water and, in such a case, the overlying water; and

a lot under the Community

Titles Act 1996 or a unit under the Strata

Titles Act 1988;

or

a legal estate or interest in, or right in respect of, land;

ordinary business hours means the hours between 9 am and 5 pm on any day other than a Saturday, Sunday or public holiday;

pecuniary sum means an amount payable pursuant to an order or direction of a court in proceedings relating to an offence, and includes—

a fine; and

compensation;

and

costs;

and

a sum payable pursuant to a bond or to a guarantee ancillary to a bond; and

a

VIC levy imposed on a person on conviction of an offence;

personal details, in relation to a person, means—

the person's full name; and

any former name of the person (including, if relevant, the person's maiden name); and

any alias of the person; and

the person's date of birth; and

the address of where the person is living; and

the address of where the person usually lives; and

any former residential address of the person in the previous 5 years;

and

the person's business address; and

the name and address of the person's employer; and

any other details of a kind prescribed by the regulations;

protected person has the same meaning as in the Intervention

Orders (Prevention of Abuse) Act 2009;

public sector agency has the same meaning as in the Public

Sector Act 2009;

VIC levy means a levy imposed under the Victims of Crime Act 2001 or a corresponding previous law.

For the purposes of this Act—

enforcement action includes a penalty enforcement order made under the Criminal

Law (Sentencing) Act 1988 as in force before the commencement of section 11 of the

Statutes

Amendment (Fines Enforcement and Recovery) Act 2013;

and

a debtor is subject to a suppression order if a suppression order forbidding publication of the debtor's name was made in the proceedings in which the pecuniary sum was imposed on the debtor and the order has not subsequently been revoked.

Unless the contrary intention appears—

a reference in this Act to a pecuniary sum includes a reference to—

the amount outstanding of such a sum or, if a number of pecuniary sums have been aggregated, the amount outstanding of the aggregated sums;

and

any fees, charges or other amounts which are, in accordance with this

Act, added to and form part of such a sum; and

a reference in this Act to an amount due under an expiation notice includes a reference to—

the amount outstanding under the notice or, if a number of amounts have been aggregated, the amount outstanding of the aggregated amounts;

and

any fees, charges or other amounts which are, in accordance with this

Act, added to and form part of such amount.

Subject to this Act, a person expiates an offence if a person pays all of the amounts due under the expiation notice (including any levy payable under the Victims of Crime Act 2001) or such amounts are recovered from the person in accordance with this Act or the Expiation of Offences Act 1996.

This

Act applies to a debtor or alleged offender who is a youth.

However, an additional power exists, in relation to enforcement of a pecuniary sum or expiation notice, for the youth or the Chief

Recovery Officer to apply, at any time, to the Youth Court for the making of a community service order in respect of the youth (as if section 46 applied in respect of the pecuniary sum or the amount due under the expiation notice).

In this section—

debtor includes a person who is a debtor within the meaning of Part 8;

youth means a person under the age of 18 years and includes, in relation to pecuniary sums and expiation notices, a person who was under the age of 18 years at the time of the relevant offence or alleged offence.

The office of Fines

Enforcement and Recovery Officer continues as the office of the Chief

Recovery Officer.

The

Chief Recovery Officer will be a person employed in the Public

Service of the State.

The

Chief Recovery Officer may, in addition to carrying out functions and exercising powers under this Act, carry out any other functions, or exercise any other powers, assigned to the Chief Recovery Officer by or under any other Act or law or by the Minister.

If the Chief Recovery Officer carries out functions under an Act on behalf of a public sector agency, Local Government agency or other person or body, the Chief Recovery Officer may charge the agency, person or body a fee of such amount as may be agreed between the

Chief Recovery Officer and the agency, person or body.

The

Chief Recovery Officer may, by instrument in writing, delegate a power or function under this Act or any other Act—

to a particular person or committee; or

to the person for the time being performing particular duties or holding or acting in a particular position.

A power or function delegated under this section may, if the instrument of delegation so provides, be further delegated.

The person to whom a power or function is delegated under this section may be a body corporate.

A delegation—

may be absolute or conditional; and

does not derogate from the power of the delegator to act personally in a matter; and

is revocable at will.

The

Chief Recovery Officer may determine that a class of determinations required to be made by the Chief Recovery Officer under this Act is of such a nature that they could appropriately be made by means of an automated process in accordance with this section.

If the Chief Recovery Officer makes a determination under subsection (1), the Chief Recovery Officer must—

determine the policies to be applied for the purpose of making the relevant class of determinations by means of an automated process; and

approve the automated process to be used.

For the purpose of any proceedings—

a certificate apparently signed by the Chief Recovery Officer and certifying as to any determination or approval given by the Chief

Recovery Officer under this section is conclusive proof of the matters so certified; and

a determination made by an automated process in accordance with this section will be taken to be a determination of the Chief Recovery

Officer under this Act.

The

Chief Executive of the administrative unit of the Public Service that is, under a Minister, responsible for the administration of this Act must, not later than 30 September in each year, submit to the Minister a report on the work of the Chief Recovery Officer for the financial year ending on the preceding 30 June.

The report must include information prescribed by the regulations or required by the Minister.

The

Minister must, as soon as practicable after receipt of a report submitted under this section, cause a copy of the report to be laid before each House of Parliament.

A pecuniary sum due and payable is to be taken for the purposes of this Act to be a debt due to the Crown and is recoverable by the

Chief Recovery Officer by action in any court of competent jurisdiction or as otherwise set out in this Act.

Subsection (1) does not limit the ability of a person to take action to recover a sum due and payable to the person.

Subject to this section, the Chief Recovery Officer may make a determination under this section (an aggregation determination) if a debtor who owes a pecuniary sum also has an amount due under an expiation notice (an expiation amount) and—

the debtor has requested the making of the aggregation determination; or

an enforcement determination has been made in relation to the expiation amount under section 22.

If the debtor requests the making of the aggregation determination but no enforcement determination has been made under section 22 in relation to the expiation amount, the Chief Recovery Officer may refuse to make a determination under this section unless the issuing authority pays the prescribed fee.

On the making of an aggregation determination—

the expiation amount will be taken to be part of the pecuniary sum owed by the debtor; and

subject to the regulations, the debtor will, for the purposes of an Act or law other than this Act or the Expiation of Offences Act 1996, be taken to have expiated the offence or offences to which the determination relates (unless the debtor is already taken to have expiated the offence in accordance with section 20(21) or section 22);

and

any enforcement determination made in relation to the expiation amount is suspended.

For the purposes of section 18, an expiation fee that is subject to an aggregation determination is taken to be a pecuniary sum imposed by order of a court and the

28 day period referred to in section 11 is taken to have ended on the day on which the expiation period ended.

If—

an amount due under an expiation notice is included in an aggregation determination; and

the expiation notice is withdrawn under section 16 of the Expiation of Offences Act 1996, the expiation amount under the withdrawn notice is to be deducted from the amount due under the aggregation determination.

The

Chief Recovery Officer may revoke an aggregation determination at any time by notice in writing given to the debtor.

A revocation takes effect 7 days from (and including) the day on which the notice referred to in subsection (6) was given to the debtor.

On the revocation of an aggregation determination under subsection (6)—

the remaining expiation amount must be determined by the Chief Recovery

Officer, taking into account—

any deductions that should be made on account of amounts that have been paid by or recovered from the debtor since the making of the determination; and

any additions that should be made on account of amounts that have accrued in accordance with section 18 since the making of the determination; and

the remaining expiation amount so determined will no longer be taken to be part of the pecuniary sum; and

—

if an enforcement determination had been made prior to the making of the aggregation determination—the enforcement determination comes back into force (and this Act applies to the remaining expiation amount as if the aggregation determination had not been made); or

in any other case—the Chief Recovery Officer may make an enforcement determination in relation to the remaining expiation amount under section 22 (and any procedural or other requirements relating to the making of such determinations will be taken to have been complied with).

Subject to any arrangement under section 15, a pecuniary sum is payable within 28 days from (and including)—

in the case of a pecuniary sum imposed by order of a court—the day on which the order was made; and

in the case of a VIC levy imposed on a person on conviction of an offence—the day on which the person was sentenced for the offence.

A pecuniary sum is payable (despite the fact that the order is in favour of some person)—

to the Chief Recovery Officer; or

to an agent appointed by the Chief Recovery Officer for the purpose.

On receipt of the whole or part of a pecuniary sum, the Chief Recovery

Officer must pay the amount received as follows:

firstly, in satisfaction of any order made by a sentencing court that the debtor pay an amount by way of compensation or restitution to a particular person (and if the debtor is subject to more than 1 such order, payments are to be made to satisfy the amounts payable under those orders, in chronological order, until all such amounts have been paid, before any other payments are made under paragraphs (b) to (e) of this subsection);

secondly, if a VIC levy is payable by the debtor, then into the Victims of

Crime Fund in satisfaction of that levy;

thirdly, if any costs are payable to a party to the proceedings, then in satisfaction of those costs;

fourthly, if any other money is payable under the order of the court to the informant, then to the informant;

fifthly, according to the directions of any other Act or, if no other Act contains directions as to payment, then to Treasury.

Unless the Chief Recovery Officer determines otherwise, if more than 1 pecuniary sum is payable by a debtor, an amount paid in accordance with subsection (2) is to be taken to have been deducted from the pecuniary sum that the debtor was first ordered to pay and then, if necessary, from the pecuniary sum that the debtor was next ordered to pay, and so on so that deductions are taken to be made from each successive pecuniary sum in chronological order.

A pecuniary sum may be paid by using a credit card, charge card or debit card if facilities for their use are available in relation to the payment to be made.