One quarter of the Western Australian prison population is comprised of fine defaulters – criminalised because of their poverty. 1,300 of the State’s 5,300 inmates are doing jail time for not being able to pay their fines. But jail time makes no sense for this majorly poverty related civil offence.
In Western Australia, people jailed for unpaid fines has soared 600 per cent in the five years from 2009 – in NSW the practice of jailing fine defaulters was outlawed in 1988. But Federal Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Nigel Scullion said he does not agree with fine defaulters being jailed. He is now urging the Western Australian Government to implement alternatives. Senator Scullion has suggested to the State Government that many of the fine defaulters can enter into a repayment scheme with Centrelink.
“We can cap repayments at 14 per cent to ensure people are not impacted severely. So up to a 14 per cent deduction from Centrelink payments can be arranged to repay any debt and keep people out of jail,” said Senator Scullion.
“I have put this to the State Government.”
In the end it is up to the State Government to implement change. Last August, a 22 year old Yamatji woman needlessly died in the South Hedland Police lock up 48 hours after being detained on unpaid fines. The tragic story of Ms Dhu has sparked outcries from around the nation in the eight months since her death.
Her mother, Della Roe, and her grandmother, Carol Roe, said that they support Senator Scullion’s proposal to the Western Australian Government.
“I think this is good. I think paying a fine or debt off through Centrelink instead of going to jail is fair, the fair way. Fines should be paid off and if it’s through this scheme then that is a fairer way to do it than any lock up or jail time,” said Ms Della Roe.
“Premier Barnett promised last year that he would do something about the fine defaults, stop the jailing of our poor people and find other ways to pay back what they owe. He has not kept his word on this yet. He made many promises some four months ago, on reducing the number of our people in jail, but he hasn’t come good.”
“This is his chance to listen to others and implement change.”
“If my daughter wasn’t kept in that police cell when she was so unwell, kept in that cell because of just fines, I would still have her with me today.”
In the last several years Western Australian fine default policies have got tougher. Minister for Corrective Services Joe Francis supports these punitive measures “as a deterrent”. But all that is occurring is that the jails are overcrowded, and the State prison population is at a record high.
Of the 1,300 fine defaulters who are in jail, nearly 600 are Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islanders. All 14 of Western Australia’s prisons are overcrowded. According to Kelly Sumner of the Action Group for Bandyup, the women’s prison is filled with three times as many inmates than its design capacity.
“Bunk beds are their solutions. Mats on the floor, women sleeping with their head by the toilet.”
“The tensions are high.” According to Ms Sumner, Bandyup Prison has one of the State’s highest assault rates by prisoners on staff.
The criminalisation of fine defaulting has contributed to the rise of Aboriginal women before the criminal justice system. One in three of all Aboriginal persons on remand in Western Australia is female.
The number of fine defaulters sent to prison in 2008 was 194. The number of fine defaulters sent to prison last year was 1,358. In 2008, 101 of the 194 were Aboriginal. Last year, 590 of the 1,358 were Aboriginal.
The State prison population rose from 3748 in mid-2008 to 5,360 in mid-2014.
Jailing people for poverty related civil offences should be a no-no but go figure. Hopefully, Premier Barnett can keep some of his promises to the people of Western Australia in that he will commit much of his remaining time in Government to reducing jail numbers.
The Stringer has had a hand in this campaign – directly!
Scullion picks fight on jailing fine defaulters
VICTORIA LAURIE THE AUSTRALIAN MARCH 05, 2015
FEDERAL Indigenous Affairs Minister Nigel Scullion will fly to Perth to confront his West Australian counterpart Peter Collier next week over the state’s vexed policy of jailing fine defaulters, indicating the Commonwealth wants to intervene to help WA fall into line with other states that rarely exercise the option of incarcerating people with debts.
Mr Scullion flagged the intervention following WA’s Corrective Services Minister Joe Francis’s revelation late last year that he is considering ways to slow the extraordinary growth in the number of West Australians — particularly Aboriginal women — going to jail to pay down fines.
A spokeswoman for Mr Scullion confirmed he is due to meet with Mr Collier early next week to discuss matters including “how we might work together to reduce indigenous incarceration rates”.
On ABC’s RN Drive program, he linked WA’s policy of allowing fine defaulters to pay down all their fines with that state’s high indigenous incarceration rate.
“I’m looking forward to meetings with WA about how the Commonwealth can play a role in ensuring that those people don’t have to go to jail,” he said.
The Australian reported in January that the number of people entering WA jails for the purpose of “cutting out” fines has increased sixfold since 2008. Aborigines going to jail for unpaid fines represent 42 per cent of all fine defaulters, and their numbers have sharply increased from 101 in 2008 to 590 in 2013.
The newspaper also reported that serious fine defaulters were choosing to go to prison because, under the WA system, they could “cut out” their largest fine at $250 a day, with other outstanding fines served concurrently.
Aboriginal Legal Service WA executive director Dennis Eggington said the Commonwealth had a constitutional responsibility to set targets to reduce incarceration in return for funds to prop up their justice systems.
Both Victoria and NSW have developed work and development order schemes that allow people with financial hardship to complete community-related activities in order to discharge their fines or penalties
But in WA, the appeal of community service is clearly not strong. One Perth woman who had accrued $32,850 in fines for 33 offences including assault, stealing and breaches of bail was able to clear her debt by serving only 12 days in jail. But it had cost $4140 — or $345 a day — to keep her in jail, with no fine money recouped and no community service performed by the woman.
Since clearing her debts in prison in 2012, the same woman has accrued new fines totalling more than $30,000. Another woman who accumulated fines of $18,000 for driving without a licence and drink-driving spent three weeks in overcrowded Bandyup Women’s Prison.
Opposition prisons spokesman Paul Papalia said Premier Colin Barnett had locked up more Western Australians than any premier in history. “Now with Mr Scullion’s statement, it’s clear even the Abbott government can see that.”
The issue of unpaid fines gained national attention last August when it emerged that a 22-year-old Aboriginal woman, Miss Dhu, had died in a Pilbara police lockup while serving out a comparatively small fine of $1000.
Premier Barnett has since assigned a taskforce to work on ways to reduce Aboriginal incarceration rates. But State Corrective Services Minister Joe Francis has said he does not accept that fine default laws can be blamed for the state’s high Aboriginal incarceration rate, since on average they spend 3.4 days in prison, or 0.4 per cent of total prison days served in WA.
Senator Scullion said he did not intend to set targets for reducing incarceration rates. But the WA Aboriginal Legal Service says the federal minister should tie Commonwealth funding to targets for reducing the state’s high jail rates.
WGAR News: Custody Notification Service will continue in NSW – but please hurry it up for WA: Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer
https://indymedia.org.au/2015/03/08/wgar-news-custody-notification-service-will-continue-in-nsw-but-please-hurry-it-up-for-wa
Contents:
* Audio Interview: Let’s Talk’s Tiga Bayles interviews Marianne Mackay, campaigner for First Nations rights within the WA criminal justice system
* Analysis / Opinion: Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: Custody Notification Service will continue in NSW – but please hurry it up for WA
* Audio: Gerry Georgatos, NIRS: Family of Ms Dhu calls for Custody Notification Service [Featuring mother Della Roe & grandmother Carol Roe]
* Analysis / Opinion: Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: Family of Ms Dhu applaud Scullion in urging Western Australia to implement Custody Notification Service
* Analysis / Opinion: Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: Death in Custody rally – “some meaningful changes can occur overnight”
* Analysis / Opinion: Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: Western Australia urged to stop jailing fine defaulters
* Analysis / Opinion: Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: Labor hypocrisy backs Liberal mandatory sentencing laws
* Analysis / Opinion: Gerry Georgatos, The Stringer: Australia; locking up its First People for 200 years
* WGAR Background: Justice Reinvestment, Aboriginal imprisonment and Aboriginal deaths in custody
* WGAR Background: Aboriginal Peoples and the impact of the Federal Budget