Before you make up your mind about which option is best for your situation, it is important to be clear about exactly how much you owe in penalties. You may also have other infringement notices outstanding that you are not aware of, for example if you have moved address and not received infringement notices.

If you are not sure how much you owe, you can obtain this information from the Infringements Court. With your request, you will need to supply the following information:

It may also be useful to supply the following information and documentation to ensure that you receive details of all outstanding infringements:

If someone else (e.g. a financial counsellor or community legal service worker) is obtaining the information for you, you will also need to sign a form authorising that person to obtain it on your behalf.

If any fines are less than 56 days old, they will not have been lodged with the Infringements Court yet, in which case you will need to write to the relevant enforcement agencies, such as the Department of Transport (for most public transport fines), Victoria Police and/or local councils, for details of unpaid fines that are still at agency level. The relevant enforcement agency will be identified on any infringement notices or penalty reminder notices that you have.

This is not recommended. The effects of taking this option become progressively more severe, depending on how far the process has progressed. At each successive stage you become liable to pay more as extra costs are added to the original penalty, as set out in the table above (see: "Summary of available options") and the section "What happens after the notice is issued?". Enforcement measures including wheel clamping and licence suspensions may also be taken against you. If you do not take any action, you may end up having to serve time in prison.

The consequences if you do not take any action in relation to outstanding fines are described in more detail below (see: "What happens if I take no action?").

Enforcement orders and infringement warrants generally expire after five years (see: "Time limits", below). However, an enforcement order that has expired may be reinstated for one further period of five years, and another infringement warrant can then be issued, meaning that enforcement action is again able to be taken against you. For this reason, it is not recommended that you rely on any infringement warrants against you expiring as a reason for failing to take action unless you are sure that the warrant has expired for a second time.

If the infringement notice is for a speeding or drink-driving offence, doing nothing could have even more serious consequences: as well as having the penalty enforced through the infringements system, you could have a conviction recorded against you and lose your licence for a set period (for more information, see: "Infringement notices", in Chapter 4*2 Driving Offences).

Paying the amount of the penalty (and any added costs) is an option available at each stage of the infringements process. However, you should keep in mind that the longer you wait before making the payment, the more costs will be added to the original penalty. It also becomes more difficult to negotiate payment arrangements that suit your circumstances.

You can decide to pay the penalty within the time indicated on the infringement notice, which will usually be 28 days (but make sure you check on the notice). You also need to check when this time period starts: it may run from the date the notice was issued, or from the date you received the notice at your home or business. The notice should tell you where you can pay the penalty, and what types of payment the agency will accept (e.g. cheque, cash or EFTPOS). Make sure you get a receipt from the agency as proof of your payment. If you have paid the penalty within the time limit, no further action should be taken by the agency that issued the notice.

If you wait until the 28-day period has expired and a penalty reminder notice has been sent to you by the enforcement agency, you can still pay the penalty. However, there may be additional costs added at this stage.

You can also pay the penalty (also known as a fine) after the enforcement agency has referred the matter to the Infringements Court and a notice of enforcement has been issued.

You may still be able to pay the fine after a date has been set for hearing the matter in the Magistrates' Court, but only if the enforcement agency agrees to accept your payment and cancel the hearing.

If you decide to pay the penalty, but don't have enough money to pay the full amount within the time limit, see: "Apply to the Infringements Court for a payment order" and "Arrange a payment plan with the enforcement agency", below.

Under the Infringements Act, if an enforcement order has not been issued, you may apply to the enforcement agency for an internal review of the decision to issue you with a fine. This process is intended to be a simple and accessible way to request that an impartial person within the agency reviews the fairness or validity of the decision to issue the fine. An internal review may be requested where:

An application may be made on more than one of the above grounds.

A young person (i.e. 18 years or younger) can also apply for an internal review.

Special circumstances: For the purposes of the Infringements Act, special circumstances include:

What amounts to a "mental or intellectual disability, disorder, disease or illness" is not defined. According to an information paper released by the Infringements System Oversight Unit of the Department of Justice in February 2008, it would include a diagnosed intellectual disability and acquired brain injury, as well as diagnosed mental illnesses such as Alzheimer's disease, bipolar disorder, dementia, schizophrenia, anxiety, depression and other related conditions.

"Homelessness" is defined in regulation 7 of the Infringements (General) Regulations 2006 (Vic). A person is homeless for the purposes of a review application if they live in crisis or transitional housing, live in other accommodation provided under the Supported Accommodation Assistance Act 1994 (Cth), or have inadequate access to safe and secure housing. (Note that homeless services are no longer funded under this Act, so this definition is now somewhat redundant.)

Importantly, in order to successfully apply to have your fines cancelled on the grounds of special circumstances because of a mental or intellectual condition or a drug or alcohol addiction, you must show either that this condition resulted in you not understanding that the conduct was an offence or caused you to be unable to control the behaviour that led to the issue of the fine. If you are applying to have your fines cancelled because you are (or were at the time of the offence) homeless, you need to show that your homelessness resulted in you not being able to control the behaviour that led to the issue of the fine.

Exceptional circumstances: While the term "exceptional circumstances" is less clearly defined, it may include such factors as poverty, old age, family violence, acute illness or language and literacy difficulties, if one or more of those factors mean that you have a good excuse for the offending behaviour.

You will need to put your application for a review in writing and you should include documents such as a report or letters from a case worker, doctor, social worker, housing worker or psychiatrist able to support your request and stating, for example, that the fine should be withdrawn because at the time you received the fine you were sleeping rough and had no capacity to pay for a train ticket. This report should be signed and dated within the last 12 months, although according to the Infringements System Oversight Unit (in its information paper dated February 2008), an older report may be acceptable in the case of a condition that does not change much over time, such as an intellectual disability. A lawyer, community legal centre or a financial counsellor may be able to help you write the letter (see: Chapters 2*4 Advice Directory and 8*2 Financial Counselling Services for contact details).

The review will be conducted by an officer not involved with issuing the infringement. Usually, this is a more senior person in the agency. Reviews must be completed within 90 days (i.e. about three months) after the agency receives the application, although this can increase by a further period of up to 35 days if the agency seeks additional information. If the agency seeks additional information and you cannot obtain it within the 14 days required by the agency, you can make a request for an extension of the time period for providing the information. The agency can take additional information into account in your application, even if you provide it out of time, but it is not obliged to do so, so you should request an extension of time if needed.

The agency then has a further 21 days to notify you of its decision once it has decided, which means you should have received notice of the review's outcome within about four months of lodging the application (or, if the agency seeks additional information, within about five months of lodging the application).

The agency may decide to cancel the fine and instead issue you with an official warning. Withdrawal or cancellation of the notice means that no further action will be taken against you.

If the agency does not agree to withdraw or cancel the notice, you will need to look at what other options are available to you, such as payment of the fine, payment by instalments, obtaining an extension of time in which to pay the fine or contesting the fine by referring the matter to court. If you choose to pay the fine, you should pay either by the due date mentioned on the agency's notice of its decision or, if no due date is specified, you should pay within 14 days of receiving notice of the decision.

If the request for review is made on the basis of special circumstances and the agency decides not to withdraw the fine, the matter will be referred to the Magistrates' Court for hearing and determination (see: "Going to court", below).

Note: Currently there seems to be some inconsistency between agencies in their assessment of applications for internal review, particularly in cases of special circumstances. This was confirmed by the Auditor General's 2009 review of the infringements system, particularly as it relates to withdrawal of infringement notices at agency level. The Auditor General found there were a number of deficiencies in the current system, particularly that the legislative requirements for withdrawal are, in some cases, applied inconsistently and not in compliance with the legislation and the agency's internal policies. On the basis of the review, the Auditor General made a number of recommendations for improvements to the system in the report tabled in Parliament on 3 June 2009, including for agencies to review their internal policies and strengthen their quality assurance processes. While there have been improvements, some inconsistencies remain.

For some traffic and parking offences, if you are the registered owner of the car but you were not in charge of it when the alleged offence took place, you can give the agency that issued the infringement notice evidence of this. For example, you could provide the name and address of the person who was driving the car at that time, or a statement (usually a statutory declaration) that the car had been stolen.

You must do this within 28 days after receiving either a penalty reminder notice or a summons to appear in court in relation to the offence, whichever happens first. If the agency accepts your statement, it has 12 months in which to commence court action against the other driver instead of pursuing you for the penalty.

The enforcement agency may refuse to accept or cancel your nomination. For example, it may do so if the person you nominate as the driver provides a statement that they were not the driver and the agency accepts that statement. The agency has six months to commence action against you from the date your nomination of another driver is cancelled.

If you intend to nominate another driver it is important to do this as early as possible. It is very difficult to nominate another driver once an enforcement order has been issued by the Infringements Court.

Entering into a payment plan may be an option either before or after an enforcement order has been issued, or after there has been a hearing in the Magistrates' Court.

If you believe you should not have to pay the penalty, or should not have to pay the full amount, you may be able to elect to have the matter heard in the Magistrates' Court (the Infringements Court does not hold hearings itself) and argue your case before a Magistrate. You may want to take this step if, for example, you did not commit the offence, or you did not receive the infringement notice from the enforcement agency, but you cannot persuade the relevant enforcement agency to withdraw the notice.

Before an enforcement order is issued, you can request that the enforcement agency refer an infringement offence to the Magistrates' Court (or, in the case of a person under 18 years, the Children's Court). The enforcement agency may send you, with the infringement notice or penalty reminder notice, a form that you can fill out to elect to have the matter referred to the court. If not, it is worthwhile writing to the agency to request the referral.

Your matter may also be referred to the Magistrates' Court if you have applied for an internal review of an agency's decision to issue the fine on the basis of special circumstances and the agency believes that the fine should still be imposed. The enforcement agency that issued the infringement notice can also decide to have the matter heard in court if you have not paid the penalty.

If a fine is referred to the court, the agency will withdraw the infringement notice and file a charge with the Magistrates' Court giving details of the offence or offences it believes you have committed. You will then receive a summons (either by mail, handed to you personally, or served on someone who is apparently over 16 and who seems to live or work with you) telling you when and where you have to appear in court to answer the charge.

Once an outstanding fine has been lodged with the Infringements Court and an enforcement order issued, you cannot simply elect to have the matter referred to the Magistrates' Court. However, there are other ways in which an infringement may be heard before a Magistrate.

The Infringements Court may refer the matter to be decided by the Magistrates' Court, where:

You will also have to appear in court if you are arrested under an infringement warrant.

Going to court gives you a chance to present your side of the story and explain to the Magistrate why you believe you should not have to pay. An advantage of this option, where there is more than one offence involved, is that the Magistrate has the power to impose a lower fine than if you were fined separately for each offence through the infringements system. However, there is also a risk that the penalty will be higher, and that a conviction will be recorded against you. You may also be liable for the costs of the other party (i.e. the enforcement agency that issued the fine) if you are found guilty.

If you are considering going to court in relation to an offence or offences, it is important to seek legal advice about how to present your case.

For more information on what happens if you go to court, see: "Going to court", below.

Once the penalty has been registered with the Infringements Court, either you or the enforcement agency can apply to the court for revocation of the enforcement order. The Infringements Registrar may also decide to revoke the infringement on his or her own motion, but this rarely happens. Where the enforcement agency requests revocation of the order (i.e. the agency requests that the enforcement orders for the fines be cancelled), the Infringements Court must grant the request; where you request revocation, the court can decide not to grant the request.

This option may be available to you if:

In the first situation described at (1) above, you may be eligible for a Community Work Permit (CWP), which allows you to do unpaid community work under supervision instead of being imprisoned. If you are assessed as eligible and agree to the terms set, you will be released on a CWP for a set period. However, if the outstanding fines exceed an amount of 100 penalty units ($11,945 as at 1 July 2010 – this amount will vary each year) you may not be able to obtain a CWP.

If you have a physical, intellectual or mental illness that would prevent you from doing the work required, you are unlikely to be considered eligible for a CWP. Other reasons why you may not be granted a CWP may include having no fixed address, having a history of serious assaults or sexual offences, failing to comply with previous community correctional orders and receiving WorkCover payments.

The conditions for a CWP can include any of the following:

If you breach the conditions of the CWP then you are guilty of an offence, which means that you may be sentenced to a prison term.

In the second situation described at item 2 above (i.e. where you have been fined in the Magistrates' Court under the Sentencing Act 1991 (Vic)) ("Sentencing Act"), you may be able to apply for a Community-based Order (CBO) instead of paying the penalty. For fines that have been imposed in the Magistrates' Court, you can make an application for conversion of the unpaid amounts to community-based work. This is best done in person at the Criminal Inquiry Counter at the Magistrates' Court (see: "Contacts" at end of this chapter for address details).

To obtain a CBO, you will need to be assessed for eligibility and you will have to agree to certain standard conditions, including:

In relation to a CBO, your corrections supervisor will set your hours and assign you to a community work site after assessing your skills and work capacity. You will also be required to report to your supervising officer as directed. If you fail to do so several times without good reason you could be in breach of the CBO and be returned to court. Any complaints about your CBO should be discussed first with your supervisor and, if not resolved, with more senior officers.

In some cases, you may be able to apply to carry out the CBO at a charity of your choice, for example, at a rehabilitation centre or where you have already been doing volunteer work for some time. Providing a letter in support from someone at the charity who knows you will strengthen your application if you want to do this.

Under both CBOs and CWPs, the number of hours you will be required to work is calculated at the rate of about $21 per hour until the penalty is paid (unless the court sets a different number of hours). There is a minimum of eight hours to be worked and a maximum of 500 hours. The Infringements Act sets out deadlines for completion of your hours under a CWP (e.g. you have six months to complete 125 hours). You must, therefore, have enough free time to commit to community work. It is also worth noting that you cannot be made to complete more than 20 hours of community work per week, although you can request to do more (up to 40 hours per week) if you feel you can manage it and you want to work off the debt more quickly.

If you have more than one CBO and/or CWP, you cannot serve them at the same time (concurrently), unlike with a prison sentence. You will have to serve them one after the other (cumulatively).

In some special circumstances, for example if you fall ill, the CWP/CBO can be suspended for a period, then resumed. You will need to provide evidence of the circumstances which justify suspension.

If you take no action in relation to outstanding fines they will eventually turn into infringement warrants. You will then be vulnerable to the following range of enforcement measures that have been brought in under Parts 7 to 12 of the Infringements Act.