2012 (2012) 55
person will be charged. The level of charge is of
significance as it will be a factor in determining
bail, and ultimately will determine the sentence
applied if found guilty. The Commission is
aware that the Supreme Court has noted the
inappropriate charging of a young, pregnant Koori
woman who after her arrest spent over six weeks
on remand. In that judgement it was noted that:
communities and their over-
representation amongst the prison
population are matters of public
notoriety. In this case, I regard the
use of s 82(1) of the Act (obtaining
financial advantage by deception)
to charge an adult for travelling
on a child's ticket as singularly
inappropriate.
charged with an offence, on that person's signed
undertaking that they will appear in court to answer
the charge".
a bail justice or judge/magistrate of the courts.
decisions. Therefore, bail is not always determined
by a court or a person with legal training.
"Data sourced from VicPol LEAP database. Extracted
21 November 2012. Note: The data for Aboriginal
offenders is based on answers to the Standard
Indigenous Question (SIQ) recorded by Victoria Police
and is not comparable to data for the same or similar
measures contained in previous years reports which
were based on an assessment of racial appearance
by attending officers. Figures from 2012-13 onwards
are subject to change as Victoria Police implements
improvements to the collection and processing of SIQ
data". State of Victoria, Department of Planning and
Community Development, `Aboriginal Affairs Report
2012', above n 31, 55.
considered 93 per cent of bail applications in
Victoria, with the courts dealing with five per cent
of applications and bail justices dealing with two
per cent of applications.
way fines are issued and managed in Victoria.
Most infringement notices are for minor summary
offences, such as parking and traffic offences,
public order offences and additional offences
including shop theft, careless driving and certain
offences relating to the carrying of knives.
are authorised to issue infringement notices under
the Infringements Act.
a number of options to deal with their notice,
including: the chance to pay the fine; negotiate
a payment plan; undertake community work or
dispute the fine and take the matter to court.
questions about the persuasive power of
infringement notices to change behaviour and
act as a deterrent.
social or economic disadvantage, infringements
are often an ineffective deterrent because they
do not deal with the underlying causes of the
offending behaviour.
Victorian Law Reform Commission, Review of the Bail
Act: Consultation Paper (2005) 8.
Bernadette Saunders et al, An Examination of the Impact
of Unpaid Infringement Notices on Disadvantaged
Groups and the Criminal Justice System Towards a
Best Practice Model (Monash University, 2013) 74.
New South Wales Law Reform Commission, People
with Cognitive and Mental Health Impairments in
the Criminal Justice System, Report No 135 (2012)
92, cited in Bernadette Saunders et al, `Unpaid
Infringement Notices', above n 244, 69.