Some children are racking up tens of thousands of dollars in fines before they turn 18, prompting key legal services to call on NSW to scrap fines for minors.
The 16-year-old boy with an intellectual disability rode his bike without a helmet. On that single day, he was fined three times – twice by the same police officer – resulting in a $1047 debt to the state government, which he carried into adulthood.
They commissioned a study by academics at the University of Wollongong and the University of NSW, which found the COVID fines were disproportionately given to disadvantaged, Indigenous, cognitively impaired or at-risk minors, and to minors living in the parts of Sydney hardest hit by illness. “That means they can’t get other types of work,” she said. “Unlike a criminal record, which is removed from your record when you’re 18, fines continue into adulthood.”
However, the report also said that if a parent paid the fine on the child’s behalf, the deterrent effect was significantly reduced. If young people were in contact with youth services – “that’s a big if,” said Quilter – and could find a sponsor, they could work off the debt.
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