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WA reforms unpaid fine laws following ‘inhumane’ death in custody
Western Australia has passed a bill to end the controversial imprisonment of residents with unpaid fines after the inhumane death of a young Aboriginal woman in custody.
Naomi Neilson
Imprisonment will now be the last resort for fine defaulters in Western Australia, following major calls for law reform after the death of a young Aboriginal woman in custody. The Western Australia premier Mark McGowan said community service or garnishing wages would now come first.
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“The legislation is very clear, you still need to pay your fines,” Mr McGowan said. “It’s just that the methods of enforcement [have] changed.
“Locking people up at huge expense for not paying a fine is not the best way of dealing with it. There are other options, there’s various community services and the like that are better ways of dealing [with] it. [There are also] garnishing wages, and the like.”
As it stands, if a person is unable or unwilling to pay their fines, a warrant of commitment will be issued for their arrest and they can be made to pay it off by serving some time in police or prison custody at a rate of $250 per day.
The changes were sparked by the death of Yamatji woman Ms Dhu – whose name is not used for cultural reasons. She died in custody in August 2014, after she was locked up in South Hedland Police Station for $3,622 in unpaid fines.
The coronial inquest found that the police behaviour towards Ms Dhu was “inhumane”. The inquest recommended the state’s unpaid fine laws be made a last resort.
Some advocates said the change would reduce the over-representation of Indigenous people in custody. Mr McGowan said the reform would look at reducing this rate, while ensuring “people pay their fines and [reduce] pressure on the prison system”.
