Unpaid fines grow to $241m

Nearly 220,000 licence suspensions were issued to more than 72,000 individuals who failed to pay their fines last year as the bill for unpaid infringements grew to a staggering $241 million.

The State Government revealed yesterday that it is in the final stages of drafting legislation which will introduce stronger sanctions in a bid to force people to pay their fines and stem the spiralling debt, but is under pressure from the Opposition and lawyers to go further by considering alternative sentencing and enforcement options.

Figures provided by the Department of the Attorney-General reveal the number of unpaid on-the-spot and court-imposed fines has climbed to 721,789, up from 663,746 two years ago. The amount of outstanding fines has grown $50 million over the past two years.

About six out of 10 licence suspensions were issued for fines arising from traffic-related matters and more than 21,000 of those involved last year still had their licences under suspension.

More than 4656 people served time in jail for fine default matters last year, of which 3316 were already in prison and worked off the fines concurrently with sentences or remands. There were also 1321 community work orders issued against fine defaulters last financial year.

Despite recent cases in the courts which have highlighted problems with individuals accruing debts of up to $25,000 for non-payment of fines, information provided by DOTAG reveals that only 4 per cent of fine defaulters owe more than $1000 each and the top 20 unpaid bills are mostly owed by business operators.

WA Sheriff Greg Rickie said the FER did not have any power to influence the courts to consider non-financial penalties against persistent non-payers.

Mr Porter, who is on leave, has previously said flagged wheel clamping, the cancellation of vehicle registrations and the physical removal of number plates from the cars of fine defaulters as options in a crackdown on unpaid infringements.

Acting Minister for Justice Rob Johnson said it would be near impossible to recover 100 per cent of fines and the FER had recouped 81 per cent of all infringements since it was set up in 1995.

"The Attorney-General is in the final stages of developing legislative measures which will dramatically enhance the powers of the FER to pursue people who do not pay their court fines."

Shadow attorney-general John Quigley said while suggestions such as wheel clamping should be considered, he would be concerned about any measure which would result in more people spending in time in prison for non-payment of infringements and deducting outstanding fines from wages and social security payments should be investigated.

Law Society of WA president Hylton Quail said expanding sentencing options such as suspended fines - which must only be paid if a person re-offends within a set time - needed to be considered.