From 1 July 2017, the Infringements Act 2006 (Vic) was changed as part of Victoria's fines reform process, including new ‘social justice initiatives' that affect people experiencing vulnerability. On 31 December 2017, the Fines Reform Act 2014 (Vic) commenced, creating Fines Victoria. This resulted in significant further changes to the infringements system and substantially shorter timeframes for dealing with infringements and fines.
Please be aware of these reforms in relation to any infringements assistance that you are providing to your clients.
We are in the process of updating Homeless Law in Practice. Justice Connect Homeless Law pro bono lawyers should read our further materials about the changes here (password needed), before doing any fines work after 1 July 2017. Please speak to your supervising lawyer, team leader or Homeless Law staff for more information.
Under Part 8 of the Infringements Act a sheriff may direct VicRoads to suspend or not renew a driver's licence or vehicle registration, or not transfer a registration, whether or not the infringement relates to a motor vehicle offence (section 109).
A sheriff can direct VicRoads to not renew a driver's licence or vehicle registration, without issuing a seven day notice (section 114). If a direction has been made not to renew a vehicle registration, VicRoads must not transfer the registration to any other person.
A sheriff can direct VicRoads to suspend a driver's licence or vehicle registration if:
the person has failed to pay the fine or make an application for a payment order or revocation of enforcement order by the expiry of the seven days (section 110 or 112).
A sheriff can direct VicRoads not to transfer registration if:
If a direction is made, the sheriff must cause a notice of the direction to be served on the registered operator.
The sheriff must notify VicRoads that the suspension or non-renewal of a driver licence or registration or non-transferral of registration has ceased when any of the following occurs:
Options for your client
It is extremely important to advise your client to take immediate action if a direction has been made to VicRoads to suspend or not renew your client's driver's licence or vehicle registration or not transfer vehicle registration.
If the warrant has not yet been executed, your client should also take, subject to instructions and circumstances, one of the following options: