A government scheme operating since 2017 is giving vulnerable Victorians an alternative option for dealing with fines. Known as the Work and Development Permit (WDP) scheme it allows eligible candidates to repay their fines in non-monetary ways.
Advance Community College has recently become an accredited scheme sponsor and is able to support clients to work off their debts, even if they are unable to pay.
In Victoria an infringement notice, or on the spot fine, can be issued for a range of lower level infractions such as traffic and parking violations, and public transport offences.
When a fine is issued, strict infringement procedures and timelines are applied. People who do not, or cannot, deal with these procedures in a timely way, may find their debt quickly spiralling out of control.
For a person dealing with mental health and disability issues, homelessness, or severe financial hardship, a quickly growing debt can exacerbate health and financial challenges. A recent analysis by Peninsula Community Legal Centre found that their infringement clients each had, on average, more than $11,000 in fine debts, and 53% of these clients reported having a mental illness or disability.
The Fines Reform Act 2014 acknowledges that vulnerable and disadvantaged members of the community, who are often disproportionately impacted because they cannot pay, require other options to deal with their fines.
The WDP scheme allows eligible people to work off their fine debt by participating in certain activities or treatments. The types of activities that a person can undertake as part of a WDP include:
- unpaid work
- treatment given by a doctor, nurse or psychologist
- courses, including educational, vocational or life skills courses
- counselling, including financial or other types of counselling
- drug and alcohol counselling, and
- mentoring (for a person under 25 years of age)
To participate in the WDP scheme a person must be engaged with a sponsor and must:
- have a mental or intellectual disability, disorder or illness
- have an addiction to drugs, alcohol or a volatile substance
- be experiencing homelessness
- be experiencing acute financial hardship, or
- be the victim of family violence
(Ref: https://www.justice.vic.gov.au/wdp)
Advance Community College is an accredited WDP sponsor and can help clients to access and participate in the scheme. A person who meets the criteria outlined above can undertake an Advance course and use it to reduce, and even completely clear, a fine debt.
To find out more about the Work and Development Permit scheme and eligibility requirements, visit the Victorian Government Justice and Community Safety website or contact your local Community Legal Centre.
