COVID-19 and fines

Why was I fined?

The Victorian Government made pandemic orders to help manage the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic.

Those pandemic orders had to be followed, the same as laws.

You can see the public Pandemic Order Register to see what the rules were when you were fined.

Before 16 December 2021, the Chief Health Officer made directions under a state of emergency declared by the Victorian Government. Those directions had to be followed, the same as laws. You could be fined if you were accused of not following the Chief Health Officer’s directions. The directions changed often. To find which directions applied when you were fined, you can look at the Victorian Government’s Gazette Archives or Search Gazettes. It is complicated – you may have to look at lots of these documents to find which directions applied when you were fined. You can contact Victoria Government Gazette if you need help searching their website.

Who could give me a fine?

There were different agencies making sure the pandemic orders (or previously, the directions made by the Chief Health Officer) were followed. Police and other authorised people could fine you if you did not follow these rules.

We say ‘police’ in this information because it is most likely to be the police who gave you a fine. However, the same rules and processes apply if you were fined by someone else.

If police thought you were not following pandemic orders, they could choose whether to fine you or give you a warning instead of a fine. If you were fined, you will get a document called an infringement notice.

What are my options?

If you have a government concession card, you can apply for your fine to be reduced. You must do this before you pay your fine. If you have received a seven-day notice, you must apply before the end of the seven days. If you have fully paid your fine, you cannot get a refund. For more information, see Fines Victoria Concession scheme for COVID-19 fines.

If you have a fine, you have four options:

• pay the fine by the due date
• agree to pay the fine but ask for more time to pay or ask to pay in instalments (part-payments). See What if I cannot pay on time?
• apply for a work and development permit
• dispute the fine if you think the police were wrong to fine you, you have a reasonable excuse or special circumstances. See What if I do not agree with the fine?

Do not ignore your fine. If you ignore a fine, you may have to pay more money. There can be other serious consequences, like having your car wheel-clamped or your property taken and sold to pay for the fine. See What happens if I ignore my fine?

What if I cannot pay on time?

If you agree with your fine, but cannot pay it on time, you can:

• ask to pay by instalments. This means you pay part of the fine each fortnight or month until you have paid the whole amount. You can apply online to pay by instalments or contact Fines Victoria.
• ask for a payment extension. This means you will have a longer amount of time to pay but will pay the whole amount at once. You can apply online for a payment extension or contact Fines Victoria.

If you have a government concession card, you can apply for your fine to be reduced in some situations. See Fines Victoria Concession scheme for COVID-19 fines.

If you have lost some or all of your income because of COVID-19 coronavirus, you may be able to get help from Services Australia (Centrelink). You may also be eligible for the Victorian Government’s Financial and other support for COVID-19.

If you are having trouble with debts and managing your money, you can get help from a free financial counsellor through the National Debt Helpline.

What if I do not agree with the fine?

You should take action before the payment due date. This is usually 21 days from the date police gave you the fine.

You can ask police to review your fine. This is called an ‘internal review’. If you ask for an internal review, the police have 90 days to review your fine. You do not need to pay the fine while you are waiting for their response. You can ask for an internal review if:

• you think police made a mistake giving you the fine. For example, what you did was not against the law, or the police thought you were a different person
• you have a reasonable excuse. The law says you are not doing anything wrong if you have a reasonable excuse for not following the directions
• there were exceptional circumstances. That means there was something very unusual or special about what happened
• you have special circumstances. Special circumstances include mental illness, intellectual disability, drug addiction, or if you were experiencing family violence or homelessness.

You can apply online to request a review or contact Fines Victoria.

Police may agree or refuse to withdraw your fine. Police may withdraw your fine and give you an official warning instead. A warning means that police say what you did is against the law and you must not do it again. You can only ask police to review your fine once.

If police continue with your fine, you still have these options:

• if you have a government concession card, you can apply for your fine to be reduced in some situations. See Fines Victoria Concession scheme for COVID-19 fines
• pay your fine by the new due date
• agree to pay the fine but ask for a payment plan. See What if I cannot pay on time?
• apply to Fines Victoria for an enforcement review. That means you ask Fines Victoria to stop enforcing your fine. If you are successful on review, Fines Victoria will not cancel your fine but will send it back to the police who will then decide whether to proceed by way of a charge and summons. You can apply for enforcement review on the same grounds as an internal review application, including exceptional circumstances or special circumstances.
• apply for a work and development permit
• if your fine was connected to family violence, you can ask Fines Victoria to cancel your fine under the family violence scheme
• choose to go to the Magistrates’ Court to challenge the fine. That means you ask the court to decide whether you should pay a fine and how much you must pay. If you go to court, there is a risk that you could get a larger fine or more serious penalty and a criminal record. You should get legal advice before you make this decision. See Other support for fines and infringements.

What happens if I ignore my fine?

Do not ignore your fine. If you ignore your fine, you may have to pay more money. If you keep ignoring fines, there can be other serious consequences. For example, you may have to go to court, have your car wheel-clamped or a sheriff can take your property and sell it to pay for the fine.

If you have fines that you have not paid, you may still have options. For example, you may be able to ask a court to revoke (cancel) your fines if you have special circumstances. You may be able to work off your fines by doing counselling or volunteer work. It will depend on your situation.

It is important to get legal advice as soon as possible. See Other support for fines and infringements.

What if I am under 18?

If you were under 18 when you got the fine, there is a different process called the Children and Young Persons Infringement Notice System (CAYPINS). If you do not pay your fine, it will go to the Children’s Court and you will be sent a Notice of Court Case.

When you get the notice, you have five options:

• pay your fine before the due date on the notice
• ask for more time to pay
• ask for the fine to be reduced
• ask for your hearing to be adjourned (put off to a later date)
• ask for a magistrate in the Children’s Court to hear your case if you do not think you should pay a fine.

For more information about this process, see Children’s Court of Victoria Infringements and Fines.

If you are not sure about your rights, get legal advice. See Other support for fines and infringements.

For more information about young people’s legal rights, download or order a free copy of Am I old enough? Common legal issues for young people.

More information

Learn more about legal issues and COVID-19 coronavirus.

Read our page on fines and infringements.

Download or order a free copy of our publication Fines: the law, your options.