Millie Roberts reports for Junkee
Hundreds of kids have had to work off their COVID-related fines, after ongoing criticism of the penalties being issued by NSW Police in the first place.
Data from Revenue NSW shows that more than 3800 children aged between 10 and 17 were slapped with fines for breaching Public Health Orders during the height of pandemic restrictions.
Of these, just over 90 percent have been withdrawn, written off, or paid, and less than one percent are currently unresolved. The remaining eight percent are being settled by Work and Development Orders (WDOs) — where participants undertake approved activities to pay off a fine as an alternative money.
There is no publicly available breakdown by Revenue NSW about how old the WDOs participants are.
“Kids should be in school, not working off fines,” said Senior Solicitor at Redfern Legal Centre Samantha Lee to the Sydney Morning Herald. “We’re of the view that many fines out there have not been issued according to law. We could have these children on WDOs … who were issued the fine unlawfully anyway.”
Legal groups have called for cautions to replace fines, among fears that disadvantaged and vulnerable communities were more likely to be targeted and affected by the punitive measures.
“Many of these children were also experiencing complex, intersecting vulnerabilities, including intellectual disabilities and/or mental health conditions, trauma background, and interrupted schooling,” they wrote to the NSW Government, who replied that a “general withdrawal of [Public Health Order] fines issued to children aged 10 to 17 years of age is not supported”.
Read full article: Kids As Young As 10 Years Old Have Been Working Off COVID Fines In NSW (Junkee, 26 July 2022)
