“Alarm bells” as Neil Mitchell receives tip-offs of issues with Fines Victoria

Neil Mitchell has received a strong tip-off of issues at Fines Victoria.

Currently, over 21 million fines are being transferred to Fines Victoria, the new body administering fines issued by police, courts, and other bodies.

But Neil has heard that information being used to send out fines could be wrong.

He’s also been told there have not been sheriffs on the road since mid-December.

“I’m told they’ve had to cut back their work because the data they were using was unreliable,” Neil said on Thursday.

“If that’s true, how can they send out fines?”

Victoria Police admitted it is dealing with some “problems”. They said:

Victoria Police is aware of some issues in the rollout of a new infringement management system and we are working closely with the Department of Justice and Regulation to resolve these problems as soon as possible.

But Neil said a lot of questions still need answering.

“It’s ringing alarm bells with me,” he said.

“Whenever we ask questions, we get obfuscation and defensiveness.”

In a statement to 3AW Mornings, the Department of Justice confirmed officers had been taken off the road.

As scheduled some activities were temporarily suspended while sheriff’s officers undertook planned activities during the transition to the new system, including the transfer of 21 million files to Fines Victoria.

These activities included officer safety training, compliance training, operational training.

They also completed fines reform training and contacted defendants to advise them of outsanding matters. 

Sheriff’s officers resumed warrant enforcement activities yesterday.

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