Resolving a SPER debt

If your client accepts liability for each fine on their SPER Debt Schedule and has the financial resources to pay the full amount owed, they can arrange payment directly with SPER.

Most correspondence from SPER will include details about how to make a payment.

A Work and Development Order (WDO) is a way for people experiencing hardship to resolve their SPER debt through other (non-financial) activities. Common WDO activities include volunteer work, counselling, financial counselling, and education courses.

Your client may be eligible to satisfy all or part of their debt through a WDO.

The amount that is deducted from a person’s SPER debt will depend on the activity they complete. WDO rates start at $30 per hour and a person can reduce their debt by up to $1000 per month. This option won’t be suitable for every client. However, if a client can engage with a WDO Hardship Partner to complete a WDO, they may be able to resolve their SPER debt while engaging in activities that also benefit their wellbeing and health.

To complete a WDO, your client will need to connect with a community agency or service that is recognised as a SPER Hardship Partner. Individual SPER Hardship Partners offer different WDO opportunities, depending on the services the community agency offers.

You can read more about the WDO scheme here.

If your client cannot afford to pay their whole debt immediately, they may be able to pay the debt through regular instalments. This is commonly referred to as an installment plan.

Sections 41 and 42 of the SPE Act requires that an application for an instalment order must be made within 28 days of the date of the enforcement order. Despite these sections, SPER can accept an application for an installment order made after the 28 day timeframe.

An application can be completed in the approved form or in another way. In practice, SPER will accept applications for instalment plans over the telephone or through the SPER Portal.

Payments can be deducted from a bank account, debit or credit card, or an eligible Centrelink benefit. If your client is on Centrelink and want to set up a Centrepay arrangement, SPER will need to get their direct consent. This usually requires a SPER representative speaking with your client directly.

Payments must not be less than the minimum instalment: SPE Act s 42. The minimum instalment is $60 for the first instalment and $30 each fortnight for subsequent instalments: s 25 SPE Regulation 2014. However, if the Registrar is satisfied that exceptional circumstances exist, the amount may be paid by instalments of less than the minimum: SPE Act s 42 (5). SPER may approve installment plans as low as $10 a fortnight.

Exceptional circumstances are not defined in the SPE Act. In practice, SPER may accept an instalment plan below the minimum instalment amount if the client can evidence that they are in financial hardship. However, other factors will usually impact SPER’s decision to grant a lower instalment plan, including the size and age of the SPER debt.

An instalment plan with SPER will usually apply to all the debts registered to an individual’s account. Before recommending your client enter into an instalment plan, you should consider whether your client:

• is seeking to challenge any individual Infringement Notices with the Administering Authority;
• is able to complete a Work and Development Order to resolve some of their debts;
• can apply to withdraw camera-detected or tolling offences where your client was not responsible for the fine(s) due to family violence; and/or
• can apply to have their debts finalised under s 150A SPE Act.

If your client enters into an instalment plan and pays off an individual fine, it may impact their other options to resolve the fines. For example, an Administering Authority cannot withdraw an infringement notice once the fine is satisfied in full: s 28 (1) SPE Act.

Entering an installment plan does not add any additional administrative fees, interest, or other charges to the debt.

Your client can arrange to make payments every week, fortnight, four weeks, or month. They can also elect to have an amount deducted from an eligible Centrelink payment under a Centrepay agreement. Eligible Centrelink payments include the Age Pension, JobSeeker Payment or Austudy. This process is not automatic as Centrelink payments are protected under s 60 of the Social Security (Administration) Act 1999 (Cth). Clients will need to speak with SPER to approved Centrepay arrangements. If a client doesn’t want to make, or is ineligible for, payments through a Centrepay agreement, there are other payment methods SPER will accept.

The Instalment Payment notice (ie the installment plan issued under s 42(7) of SPE Act) can be cancelled without notice if the person fails to pay an instalment under the notice.

SPER’s Domestic and Family Violence Process provides additional options for victim-survivors.

This process provides a single point of contact for victims-survivors to resolve SPER debts for vehicle-related infringement notices (such as camera-detected fines or tolling offences) where the offence was committed by the perpetrator.

You can read more about SPER’s DFV Process here.

In limited circumstances, SPER can agree to waive or write-off debts.

Section 150A of SPE Act provides for the write-off of fines or other amounts payable. Guidelines about when a debt may be written off pursuant to these sections are issued by the Treasurer but are not made public: SPE Act s 150(B)(2).

Section 150AA of SPE Act provides for the waiver of the enforcement fees that attached to certain fines. For waivers in relation to enforcement fees, s 28A of the SPE Regulation 2014 allows the registrar to waive or return the fees if:

• a person applies for an instalment plan within 28 days of the date of the enforcement order;
• the fine for the relevant infringement notice is less than the threshold amount; and
• the person is experiencing financial hardship resulting in an inability to pay.

Without limiting that section, the registrar may also waive or return all or part of a fee payable for an enforcement order if a WDO is successfully entered into within 28 days of the date of the relevant infringement notice: SPE Act ss 32J, 32O.

In some circumstances, individual’s experiencing hardship can apply for a deferral on their SPER debt for a period of up to three months. The aim is to provide short-term relief from a person’s obligations in a period of temporary hardship, which may arise from losing a job, going through a divorce, falling ill, or experiencing domestic or family violence.

If deferral is granted, SPER will not take enforcement action or undertake collection activities (except any warrant to impose a charge that may already be in place over an individual’s property). This deferral of payment, and the associated enforcement action, may last for up to three months. Only two deferrals of three months are allowed per 12-month period.

Hardship Partners can recommend a deferral through their portal, by searching for the relevant client and selecting ‘deferral’.

Clients can resolve individual SPER fines by successfully requesting the Administering Authority (the Government agency that issued the infringement notice) withdraw and cancel the original Infringement Notice.

If successful, the Administering Authority will withdraw the fine from SPER. The process to request a withdrawal differs depending on the issuing authority and the nature of the Infringement Notice.

An Administering Authority may withdraw an infringement notice at any time before the fine is satisfied in full: s 28 SPE Act. Upon being notified of the withdrawal of an infringement notice, SPER will cancel any enforcement order issued in relation to that fine.

Given SPER’s limited powers to write-off debts, challenging the fine with the Administering Authority can be a practical and fair resolution.

When considering this option, you should consider your client’s circumstances at the time the individual Infringement Notice was issued. Common infringements where an Administering Authority may agree to withdraw and cancel an Infringement Notice include:

• fines issued by the Electoral Commission of Queensland for failing to vote. The Electoral Commission may agree to withdraw and cancel a fine where the person had a reasonable excuse for failing to vote;
• toll fines where the client had a reasonable excuse (including homelessness, significant health problems, or because they were in a violent relationship) for not responding to the demand notice;
• parking fines issued by local councils where the client has a reasonable excuse (such as being homeless and sleeping in their car) or was not the driver of the car at the time the fine was issued; and
• other infringements connected to the client’s disadvantage, provided it isn’t a court-ordered penalty.

Driving offences will rarely be withdrawn and cancelled by the Administering Authority. However, other options exist if your client was not the driver at the time of the offence.

You can read these articles that outline your client’s options for driving offences where they were not the driver and toll fines for failing to respond to a demand notice.