VIC Fines Victoria - old fines & going to court

[Lara777]

hello all,

i have received a traffic fine from 2015, i had heard nothing until now 2022.
i got a notice of final demand from fines Victoria, with a letter saying my application for revocation was refused OR struck out by the magistrates court. i don't believe any such request was made.

i would like to have this matter heard in court, but after some calls and research it seems the newer laws (FINES REFORM ACT 2014) blocks people from doing this.

i can understand this being kind of fair for people who recently got fines, but i have been reading many, many people are getting these 5+ year old fine notices and have no means to dispute the matter other then directly with Fines Victoria (as the legislation blocks other avenues that use to be available under the older civic compliance system) -
PART 3--AMENDMENT OF INFRINGEMENTS ACT 2006

if anyone has any advice on this please share as it could help many people facing the same issue to get a fair go.

thanks

 

[Lara777]

?

 

[Tim W]

i got a notice of final demand from fines Victoria, with a letter saying my application for revocation was refused OR struck out by the magistrates court. i don't believe any such request was made.

What you believe doesn't much matter.
Write back and ask for a copy of the application for the review/ waiver/ whatever it supposedly was.
Look for a case number, reference number, or somesuch on any correspondence you have had from them.
There may be a fee for them doing this.
In the alternative, maybe apply to the court for a copy of their decision.

For traffic matters in Victoria, consider our own @Tony Danos

 

[Scruff]

I'm wondering if this could be a scam. I would be calling the relative authority that the notice claims to be issued by to confirm that it's real before doing anything else.
Don't call any numbers on the notice - look up the number for the authority yourself.

Another option is to ignore it.

... with a letter saying my application for revocation was refused OR struck out by the magistrates court. i don't believe any such request was made.

That to me, is justification for genuinely believing that the notice is fake. Unless you receive fines on such a regular basis that you can't keep track of them, how could you not remember disputing it?

 

[Lara777]

What you believe doesn't much matter.
Write back and ask for a copy of the application for the review/ waiver/ whatever it supposedly was.
Look for a case number, reference number, or somesuch on any correspondence you have had from them.
There may be a fee for them doing this.
In the alternative, maybe apply to the court for a copy of their decision.

For traffic matters in Victoria, consider our own @Tony Danos

" a letter saying my application for revocation was refused OR struck out by the magistrates court." i don't believe any such request was made.

yes i already checked with the courts no application or court ruling can be found as far as we can find 2015-2022. i think this is all just so auto generated notice but there is no way to goto court with it, only pay

 

[Lara777]

I'm wondering if this could be a scam. I would be calling the relative authority that the notice claims to be issued by to confirm that it's real before doing anything else.
Don't call any numbers on the notice - look up the number for the authority yourself.

Another option is to ignore it.

That to me, is justification for genuinely believing that the notice is fake. Unless you receive fines on such a regular basis that you can't keep track of them, how could you not remember disputing it?

"That to me, is justification for genuinely believing that the notice is fake. Unless you receive fines on such a regular basis that you can't keep track of them, how could you not remember disputing it?"
do you remember all you did in 2015? 7 years ago?

the basis of the question is how to have this matter heard in court, since FinesVIC(2017) came into existence Revocation is no longer a thing as it was with Civic Compliance. that option was taken away with new legislation.

 

[Lara777]

...

 

[Rod]

When Fines Victoria was established to replace Civic Compliance there was an almighty balls up with the IT systems not talking to each other and many thousands of fines were 'stuck'.

I'd be making an FOI request to see what happened with your fine. There may be some procedural unfairness happening here. Alternatively you can write a well prepared letter detailing the fines history from your perspective and ask for a waiver/referral to court for the reasons detailed in your letter.

I'm unclear as to whether you received the original infringement notice.

 

[Lara777]

When Fines Victoria was established to replace Civic Compliance there was an almighty balls up with the IT systems not talking to each other and many thousands of fines were 'stuck'.
that's for sure, they also made it so old fines cannot be disputed.

I'd be making an FOI request to see what happened with your fine.
what would i be requesting?

There may be some procedural unfairness happening here.
can you share some examples?

Alternatively you can write a well prepared letter detailing the fines history from your perspective and ask for a waiver/referral to court for the reasons detailed in your letter.
if you mean to finesVIC, my understanding is the newer legislation block the referral to court

I'm unclear as to whether you received the original infringement notice.
i dont believe so

 

[Rod]

what would i be requesting?

The notices that were sent to you.

can you share some examples?

Failure to send notices to you, or to the wrong address.

if you mean to finesVIC, my understanding is the newer legislation block the referral to court

I haven't dealt with the 'new legislation' in some time and can't comment.

i dont believe so

This is likely a ground for procedural unfairness, hence getting the evidence via FOI.