• A total of 54,839 days were served by 7,025 people as part of fine default-only receptions; these people had a total of 7,462 prison receptions between them.
  • Hakea and Bandyup are by far the most heavily burdened by fine default receptions, with Hakea receptions accounting for almost half of the total amount of days served for defaulting on fines.
  • The average length of stay between July 2006 and March 2015 was 7.5 days. Legislative changes, however, had a dramatic impact on average number of days served. Before the changes fine defaulters served an average of 45 days, however, this decreased ten-fold after March 2008 to 4.5 days served on average. The average length of stay for Aboriginal women was most impacted by these changes.
  • Women are disproportionately represented in the fine default-only population, comprising 15 per cent of the total prisoner receptions but 22 per cent of the fine defaulter population.
  • Unemployment is rife in the fine defaulter prison population, particularly for Aboriginal women. An overwhelming 73 per cent of the female fine defaulters are considered unemployed; 64 per cent of these women are Aboriginal.
  • The majority of fines (54 per cent) were related to minor traffic offences; for drink driving or driving without a licence.
  • In the 2013-14 financial year, the total cost of fine default-only receptions was approximately $2.29 million.
  • Since July 2006 til the end of the 2013-14 financial year just under $55 million worth of unpaid fines were cleared by incarceration.
Page last updated: May 20, 2016
Fine defaulters in the Western Australia prison system