On the 3rd of February 2011, the Law Reform Commission considered the issue of penalty notices on prisoners. It was unanimously agreed that their impact was destructive as prisoners are incurring large debts that they do not have the capacity to pay. Moreover, when prisoners are freed from jail they face the challenges of finding a job, housing, and reconnecting with friends and family (if possible). They suffer from a lack of support and debt is a further and unnecessary obstacle that prevents people from rebuilding their lives. Ex-prisoners need to start with a clean state so that they can rejoin society. Penalty notices were introduced as a deterrent and an alternative to incarceration; however, they have failed on both counts. They directly increase the rate of recidivism. In addition, the amounts are ludicrous and many people have no choice but to go to prison. Penalty notices effectively punish the poor and vulnerable sections of society. They result in unjust punishment especially when considering that they are mostly issued for traffic penalties; other reasons include transport penalties and court-imposed fines.
The commission considered a number of options regarding the penalty notices of prisoners including wipe outs, pro rata schemes, and cut outs.
We at Justice Action believe that wiping out prisoners’ penalty notices completely (among other debts such as fines and victim’s compensation) is the only effective option. It is the only option that will give prisoners a clean state upon release, which will improve their quality of life and reduce recidivism. Furthermore, cutting out debt and pro rata schemes will add further bureaucracy and cost to an already over-complicated and expensive system. Pro rata schemes would be created on the assumption that prisoners actually have money to spare. Considering that the average prisoner earns $15 per week and he/she has to pay for items such as toiletries and phone calls, this is unlikely. In addition, prisoners would have to earn their money through programs (Work Development Orders) that are under-resourced and are not widely available to prisoners.
Therefore, we will be lobbying for the Law Reform Commission to improve the system and wipe out prisoners debts completely.
