New South Wales Consolidated Acts

FINES ACT 1996 - SECT 23

23 Amount payable under penalty notice

(1) For the purposes of this Part, the amount payable under a penalty notice is the amount specified in the notice, as fixed by or in accordance with law.

(1A) A person may pay the amount by part payments. However, the full amount payable under a penalty notice is to be paid within the time required by the notice.

(3) The amount specified in a penalty notice cannot exceed the maximum amount of the penalty that could be imposed by a court for the offence to which the penalty notice relates.

(4) If the statutory provision providing for the issue of the penalty notice provides for a lesser amount, the amount specified in the penalty notice cannot exceed that lesser amount.

(5) An instrument under a statutory provision providing for the issue of a penalty notice that prescribes the amount payable under the notice for an alleged offence may--

(a) prescribe different amounts for different offences, and

(b) prescribe different amounts for the same kind of offence committed in specified circumstances.

(6) Despite any other provision of this Act or any other Act or law, the Commissioner may, on application by a person to whom a penalty notice is issued, reduce by 50% the amount required to be paid under the penalty notice if--

(a) at the time the person committed the offence specified in the penalty notice, the person was in receipt of a Government benefit, and

(b) the Commissioner thinks it is appropriate having regard to the relevant guidelines issued under section 120.

(7) In subsection (6), a person in receipt of a Government benefit includes the following--

(a) a holder of a Health Care Card, Ex-Carer Allowance (Child) Health Care Card or Commonwealth Seniors Health Card issued on behalf of the Commonwealth,

(b) a person in receipt of the Disability Support Pension or Newstart, ABSTUDY Living or Widow Allowance under a law of the Commonwealth.