Advice for Aboriginal people
If you have received a fine you should get legal help.
If you are Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, you can get help with your fine from a number of services.
You can call LawAccess NSW, a free government telephone service that provides legal information, referrals and in some cases, advice for people who have a legal problem in NSW. You can ask for support on the call from one of their Aboriginal Information Officers.
The Aboriginal Legal Service (NSW/ACT) Limited has a COVID-19 Legal Assistance Clinic that can help with COVID-19 public health order fines. All Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in NSW are eligible for this service. Email covidfines@alsnswact.org.au or call 1800 765 767. You can also visit the website.
If it is a court fine, you can ask an Aboriginal Client and Community Support Officer at your local court for information about how to pay your fine.
If you are an indigenous female, you can call the Indigenous Women’s Legal Contact Line. This service provides free confidential legal information, advice and referrals for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in NSW.
If you are from an Aboriginal community, the Civil Law Service for Aboriginal Communities at Legal Aid NSW delivers advice, casework and education services about money issues to specific Aboriginal communities across NSW through regular outreach.
You can call Legal Aid NSW for advice about fines generally.
You can call your local Community Legal Centre for advice about fines. Some centres have Aboriginal team members who can help you with your fine.
If you have received a fine in NSW
Free and confidential
All these services provide free and confidential legal help.
LawAccess NSW
You can call LawAccess NSW on 1300 888 529. The operating hours are from 9am to 5pm Monday to Friday (excluding public holidays).For more information, go to the LawAccess NSW website.
Aboriginal Legal Service (ALS)
Email covidfines@alsnswact.org.au or call 1800 765 767. For more information, go to the ALS website.
Aboriginal Client and Community Support Officer, Local Court
You can call your Local Court and talk to an Aboriginal Client and Community Support Officer. You may still need advice and you can contact LawAccess NSW.
Indigenous Women’s Legal Contact Line
You can call the Indigenous Women’s Legal Contact Line on 1800 639 784 or (02) 8745 6977.
For more information, go to Indigenous Women’s Legal Program on the Women’s Legal Service NSW website.
Civil Law Service for Aboriginal Communities
You can call the Civil Law Service on 1800 793 017 or (02) 9219 5057 or email moneycounts@legalaid.nsw.gov.au.
For more information, go to Civil Law Service for Aboriginal Communities on the Legal Aid NSW website.
Legal Aid NSW
You can call your local Legal Aid NSW office. The operating hours are from 8.30am to 5.30pm for Sydney (Central Sydney) and 9am to 5pm for all other offices.
For more information, go to the Legal Aid NSW website.
Community Legal Centre
To find the CLCs that are suitable for your situation use the Community Legal Centres NSW Recommendation Service.
For more information, go to the CLC NSW website.
Collect your fines together
- Group your fines together by stage (penalty notice, penalty reminder notice, overdue fine) or organise them by due date: put the most urgent on the top of the pile
- You can also get details about your fines from Revenue NSW.
Collect supporting information
If you have other information that proves that you shouldn’t have got some of your fines, collect that too. It may be things like:
- Proof that you weren’t the driver/responsible person of your car when the fine was issued or that you haven’t committed the offence
- A doctor’s letter proving that you have a special circumstance that means you shouldn’t have got the fine
- A letter from a social worker explaining what your situation is
- Bank statements or evidence of your income
- Other evidence that means you can’t pay the fine
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Please don’t ignore your fine
If you do not take action by the due date you may pay more and be stopped from driving or using your car.