Calls for Victorian government to follow NSW in waiving COVID-19 fines

There are growing calls for the Victorian Government to follow New South Wales in waiving COVID-19 fines issued during the pandemic.

Revenue NSW withdrew more than 33,000 COVID fines yesterday after a Supreme Court challenge, which argued the offence descriptions provided on the specific fine notices were too vague and therefore legally invalid.

Another 29,017 COVID-19 fines issued in NSW, which have different offence descriptions, will still be required to be paid if they have not been already.

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Victorian Community legal centres, Inner Melbourne Community Legal and YouthLaw, have since called on the Victorian Government to withdraw the more than 30,000 outstanding COVID-19 fines issued in Victoria.

"Victoria's Community Legal Centres will look closely at the implications of the NSW decision and what it could mean for Victorians that are being pursued for outstanding COVID-19 fines," a statement from Inner Melbourne Community Legal reads.

The statement explains community legal centres are concerned with the process of reviewing the fines, and that people in lower socio-economic areas were more likely to receive the fines.

"We have seen people request their own internal review applications, which were ultimately refused. They were given no indication whether their circumstances had been properly considered," the statement said.

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"The NSW case highlights the inappropriateness of a punitive policing response to a public health crisis."

While speaking to media in Melton in Melbourne's west this morning, Deputy Premier Jacinta Allan said she could not comment on the government's position surrounding the calls for the fines to be disregarded.

"We'll get some advice from a Victorian perspective and we'll need to get some advice from the Attorney-General on that," she said.