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Explanatory note
This explanatory note relates to this Bill as introduced into Parliament.
to allow the registrar of a court to vary the court to which a fine is to
be paid, and
to exclude fine enforcement action involving the suspension or
cancellation of a fine defaulter's driver's licence, or the refusal to issue
or renew a driver's licence, in the case of a fine imposed while the fine
defaulter was under the age of I8 years and not the holder of a driver's
licence, and
to ensure that the maximum number of hours of community service
work that a person under the age of 18 years can be required to
perform is 100 hours, and that such a person can perform work under
several such orders concurrently, and
to apply the provisions of Division 2 of Part 2 (which relate to the
payment of fines imposed by a court) to the payment of ancillary
orders made by a court (such as orders for costs and compensation),
and
(e)
to exclude adults who are serving periods of imprisonment and
children who are serving periods of detention from the transitional
amnesty period that the Act provides for existing fine defaulters, and
(f)
to allow the regulations to establish a separate fine enforcement
regime, for a transitional period of 2 years only, in relation to fines
imposed under the laws of the Commonwealth and in relation to fine
defaulters who reside outside New South Wales.
Clause 2 provides for the commencement of the proposed Act on a day or
days to be appointed by proclamation.
Clause 3 is a formal provision giving effect to the amendments to the Fines
Act 1996 set out in Schedule 1.
Schedule 1
Amendment of Fines Act 1996
Variation of court to which fine payable
It is proposed to amend section 8 to allow the registrar of a court to vary the
court to which a fine is payable (Schedule 1 [l]). A consequential
amendment is proposed for section 13 to allow the fine to be referred for a
court fine enforcement order by the registrar of the court to whom the fine
becomes payable as a result of such a variation (Schedule 1 [2]).
Payment of fines to the RTA
It is proposed to amend section 65 so as to make it clear that the State Debt
Recovery Office must cancel any direction it has given to the Roads and
Traffic Authority with respect to enforcement action under Division 3 of Part
4 of the Act (action involving the suspension or cancellation of drivers'
licences and vehicle registrations) as soon as practicable after it receives
payment of the whole of the amount payable under the fine enforcement
order to which the direction relates (Schedule 1 [3]: proposed section 65 (4)).
Consequential amendments are proposed for section 66 (3) (Schedule 1 [4])
and section 68 (4) (Schedule I [8]).
Explanatory note page 2
Enforcement action under Division 3 of Part 4 with respect to
unlicensed young offenders
It is proposed to amend section 65 so as to prevent the Roads and Traffic
Authority from suspending or cancelling a fine defaulter's driver's licence, or
from refusing to issue or renew a driver's licence for a fine defaulter, if the
fine defaulter was under the age of 18 years and not the holder of a driver's
licence when the fine was imposed or the relevant penalty notice was served
(Schedule 1 [3]: proposed section 65 (3)). A consequential amendment is
proposed for section 71 to ensure that enforcement action under Division 4 of
Part 4 (civil enforcement against the fine defaulter's property) can be taken
(Schedule 1 [9]).
Children's community service orders
It is proposed to amend section 81 so as to ensure that the maximum number
of hours of community service work that a person under the age of 18 years
can be required to perform is 100 hours (Schedule 1 [10]), and that such a
person can perform work under several such orders concurrently (Schedule 1
[11]). A consequential amendment is proposed to define adult and child for
the purposes of section 81 (Schedule 1 [12]).
Enforcement of ancillary money orders
It is proposed to insert a new section 109A to apply the provisions of
Division 2 of Part 2 (which relate to the payment of fines imposed by a court)
to the payment of ancillary orders imposed by a court (such as orders for
costs and compensation) (Schedule 1 [14]). Consequential amendments are
proposed to be made to section 109 (Schedule 1 [13]) and section 110
(Schedule 1 [115]).
Exclusion of convicted prisoners etc from transitional
amnesty period
Clause 2 of Schedule 3 provides for a transitional amnesty period during
which existing warrants for the commitment of fine defaulters to prison are
not to be executed. It is proposed to amend that clause so as to exclude
convicted inmates (within the meaning of the Correctional Centres Act 1952)
and persons subject to control (within the meaning of the Children (Detention
Centres) Act 1987) from the amnesty, so allowing them to "cut out'' their
outstanding fines while serving their current sentences (Schedule 1[17]).
Explanatory note page 3
Fine enforcement regime for fine defaulters under
Commonwealth laws and fine defaulters living outside New
South Wales
It is proposed to insert a new clause 5A into Schedule 3 (the Schedule of
savings and transitional provisions) so as to allow the regulations to establish
a separate fine enforcement regime, for a transitional period of 2 years only,
in relation to fines imposed under the laws of the Commonwealth and in
relation to fine defaulters who reside outside New South Wales (Schedule 1
[19]).
Miscellaneous
The following amendments are also proposed:
amendments to clarify the operation of section 68 (Schedule 1 [5], [6]
and [7]),
an amendment to enable savings and transitional regulations to be
made in connection with the enactment of the proposed Act (Schedule
1 [16]),
amendments to clarify the operation of certain savings and transitional
provisions (Schedule 1 [18]).
Explanatory note page 4