Options to resolve a SPER debt

If a community member is in financial hardship, you can request a deferral on their SPER debt for a period of up to three months. SPER can grant two deferrals every 12 months. The aim is to provide short-term relief in a period of temporary hardship (e.g. job loss, personal or health circumstances, experiencing domestic or family violence).

The request should be made directly to SPER, either in writing or by telephone. SPER will require some details regarding the community member’s personal or financial circumstances to consider whether a deferral is available.

If a deferral is granted, SPER will not take enforcement action or require payment during that period. If SPER has already taken enforcement action, for example by suspending the community member’s driver licence, a deferral will suspend the enforcement action.

A deferral doesn’t resolve the underlying SPER debt. However, it will stop enforcement action while you or the community member makes arrangements to resolve their SPER debt. A community member will need to get back in contact prior to the end of the deferral period to establish ongoing arrangements for the debt (e.g. an instalment plan), so it is recommended to note this date.

SPER will accept applications for instalment plans over the telephone or through the SPER Portal.

If a community member is setting up an instalment plan through the SPER Portal, the ‘default’ payment amount proposed may not be affordable. It is possible to request a lower instalment amount by speaking with SPER directly. SPER may approve a lower amount (as low as $10 a fortnight) if your client can evidence that they are in financial hardship. However, SPER may consider other factors in deciding whether to approve a lower plan: instalment amounts may be capped for large or older debts, and if the debt includes court-ordered restitution or compensation.

When you or the community member calls SPER to discuss an instalment plan it is a good idea to have details of their financial position worked out in advance, to be able to provide sufficient information and evidence their hardship circumstances: for example, details of weekly income, regular expenses, other current debts, and (if possible) an estimated affordable instalment amount.

Payments can be deducted from a bank account, debit or credit card, or through Centrepay arrangements; and be made every week, fortnight, four weeks or month.

If payments are missed, SPER may cancel the instalment plan without notice. It can then be more difficult to set up an instalment plan in the future.

The instalment plan will usually apply to all the debts registered to an individual. If the community member enters into an instalment plan and pays off an individual fine, it could impact other options which may have been available to resolve it. Therefore, before entering an instalment plan, the community member should consider or obtain advice regarding other relevant options for each debt listed on the schedule, particularly if there are fines that they do not feel they are responsible for.

A Work and Development Order (WDO) is a way for people experiencing hardship to resolve their SPER debt through unpaid activities. Common WDO activities include volunteer work, counselling, financial counselling, and education courses.

Community members may be eligible to satisfy all or part of their debt through a WDO. It is not available where the debt relates to a court-ordered restitution or compensation payment to a specified person or entity.

To complete a WDO, the community member will need to connect with a community agency or service that is recognised as a SPER Hardship Partner. It is a good idea to ask what services the community member already work with to see if there’s any that might be registered as a Hardship Partner. The Queensland Government allows you to search for Hardship Partners that are public. Some Hardship Partners are not listed publicly.

The amount that is deducted from a person’s SPER debt will depend on the activity they complete. WDO rates start at $30 per hour and a person can reduce their debt by up to $1000 per month.

This option won’t be suitable for everybody. However, if a community member can engage with a Hardship Partner to complete a WDO, they may be able to resolve their SPER debt while engaging in activities that also benefit their wellbeing and health.

This option is available for victim-survivors of domestic and family violence for SPER debts for vehicle-related infringement notices (such as camera-detected fines or tolling offences), where the offence was committed by the perpetrator.

Further details about SPER’s DFV process is available here.

In limited circumstances, SPER will agree to waive or write-off debts. Guidelines about when a debt may be written off exist, however are not publicly available.

Debt write off requests can be made in writing to SPER.

In our experience, SPER will consider writing off all or part of a debt where the community member is experiencing significant, sustained personal and financial hardship that means the person is unable to meaningfully repay the amounts owed, and that this is unlikely to change. SPER will often request evidence of the community member’s experience of hardship, including letters of support, financial information, and medical records.

For larger debts, SPER may agree to write off a portion of the debt, allowing the community member to enter into an Installment Plan for the remaining amount. For example, a community member with a $19,000 debt may want to consider requesting a reduction of the debt to a lower amount that can reasonably be repaid under an Installment Plan.

Without seeing the guidelines, it is not possible to say exactly what SPER will consider or when they will or will not write off a debt. However, we understand that SPER will only agree to a write off in exceptional circumstances.

If you think there are good reasons to request a write off, we suggest contacting SPER to discuss the available options. You can also contact the Homelessness Law team at [email protected] or on (07) 3518 8125.

SPER can also waive a part of a debt – the enforcement fees added to the original fine – in some circumstances. These include:

• if a person applies for instalment plan within 28 days of the enforcement order sent to them by SPER after an infringement fine is first registered with SPER; or
• a person enters a WDO within 28 days of the infringement notice; and
• the fine for the relevant infringement notice is less than $200; and
• the person is experiencing financial hardship and is unable to pay the fine.

Community members can resolve individual SPER fines by negotiating directly with the Administering Authority (the Government agency that issued the Infringement Notice). This involves contacting the Administering Authority to ask it to withdraw and cancel the original Infringement Notice. This can be requested anytime before the fine is paid in full.

If the Administering Authority withdraws the infringement notice, they will notify SPER, and SPER will cancel the related enforcement order.

This option depends on your client’s circumstances at the time the individual Infringement Notice was issued. Common infringements where an Administering Authority may agree to withdraw and cancel an Infringement Notice include:

• fines issued by the Electoral Commission of Queensland for failing to vote, where the person had a reasonable excuse for failing to vote;
• toll fines where the client had a reasonable excuse (including homelessness, significant health problems, or because they were in a violent relationship) for not responding to the demand notice;
• parking fines issued by local councils where the client has a reasonable excuse (such as being homeless and sleeping in their car) or was not the driver of the car at the time the fine was issued; and
• other infringements connected to the client’s disadvantage, provided it isn’t a court-ordered penalty.

The process to request a withdrawal differs depending on the issuing authority and the nature of the Infringement Notice.

Driving offences will rarely be withdrawn and cancelled by the Administering Authority. However, if your client was not the driver at the time of the offence, there are other options available.