Michael Koziol reports for Sydney Morning Herald
Revenue NSW said 794 of the 3840 COVID-19 fines issued to children during the pandemic – about one in five – had been or were being “resolved” through work and development orders (WDOs), which allow people experiencing hardship to reduce their debt by other means.
Legal advocacy groups have mixed feelings about WDOs being used to reduce minors’ COVID fines. They say the option works for vulnerable people who can’t pay their debt but may contribute to more children being fined when they should just receive a caution or warning.
At present, 145 children are still paying off a total of 324 COVID-19 fines through WDOs, Revenue NSW told the Herald, reflecting the fact that some children received multiple fines for breaching public health orders.
Data obtained under freedom of information laws by the Redfern Legal Centre shows about half the COVID-19 fines issued to NSW children were for failing to wear or carry a face mask. The other half were mostly the “catch all” offence of failing to comply with a public health order - typically, being outside home without a reasonable excuse.
The same data shows that between July 1, 2021 and June 4, 2022, police issued minors with 3579 COVID fines and issued 2672 warnings under the Young Offenders Act - and 113 formal cautions.
Redfern Legal Centre senior solicitor Samantha Lee said COVID-19 fines should never have been issued to children in the first place. “Kids should be in school, not working off fines,” she said.
“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.
“They [WDOs] sound like a good solution. But a lot of these kids are from low socio-economic areas and most likely quite vulnerable. It requires compliance. They have to turn up at a certain time, at a certain place. It’s just not suitable for a lot of kids whose lives may be a little bit more fragile.”
The government has been determined to chase payment for tens of thousands of fines issued for breaching COVID rules, some of which are now being challenged in court.
Revenue NSW said of the nearly 4000 fines issued to minors, only 17 were unresolved. More than 90 per cent had been paid, written off or withdrawn, and the rest were being resolved through WDOs.
Read full article: Hundreds of NSW children paid off COVID-19 fines through ‘work orders’ (Sydney Morning Herald, 25 July 2022)
