NSW Police said on Wednesday it had issued nearly 25,000 fines for breaches of the public health order in the month since August 16 during Operation Stay At Home.
Caitlin Fitzsimmons reports for the Sydney Morning Herald:
The letter to Premier Gladys Berejiklian, also sent to Police Minister David Elliott and Customer Service Minister Victor Dominello, calls on the government to reduce the use of policing and fines to ensure compliance.
“We instead encourage greater investment in community education and engagement strategies, and enhanced social and economic measures to support communities already in crisis,” the letter reads. “This will engender greater trust in contact tracers and authorities enforcing public health advice.”
The letter is from the chief executives of the Redfern Legal Centre, the Aboriginal Legal Service, Community Legal Centres NSW and Public Interest Advocacy Centre. It is endorsed by more than 100 people including retired District Court judge Stephen Norrish, QC, law professors, Greens parliamentarians, and the chief executives of Homelessness NSW and Shelter NSW.
It also calls on the government to reduce the monetary amounts of on-the-spot COVID-19 fines, which are significantly higher than other fines at a maximum $5000.
The letter also calls on the state to review and revoke all fines erroneously imposed for lawful outdoor recreation because of reports police are wrongly issuing fines to people who are not actually breaking the public health order - for example, people fined for sitting in a park in a local government area where this is allowed.
Police Commissioner Mick Fuller said at the start of Operation Stay at Home that he would not act against police officers who wrongly issue fines.
The letter says the focus on fines to enforce “complex and difficult to understand” public health laws are disadvantaging vulnerable people, especially from multicultural or Indigenous backgrounds.
“People from culturally and linguistically diverse backgrounds who lack access to accurately translated and culturally appropriate health advice also risk being further disadvantaged,” the letter says.
“The excessive use of fines against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities in NSW also has the potential to further entrench disadvantage and exacerbate negative relationships between Aboriginal communities and the police.”
Read the full article (Sydney Morning Herald, 16 September 2021)
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