George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Shadow Attorney-General) Share this | Hansard source

It is a great pleasure this evening to speak briefly on the Service and Execution of Process Amendment (Interstate Fine Enforcement) Bill 2010. It should never be forgotten that the Service and Execution of Process Act, although never, so far as I am aware, a subject of acute political controversy, is one of the fundamental machinery-of-government acts of the Australian parliament. In fact, I think I am right in saying that it was, if not the first act, then certainly one of the first acts of the Australian parliament in 1901, to establish a machinery for the mutual recognition and enforcement of the orders and decrees of the courts of the various states.

This bill replaces the existing regime for arrest and imprisonment of interstate fine defaulters with the alternative sanctions available in the jurisdictions of the states and territories. Part 7 of the Service and Execution of Process Act provides a scheme for the mutual recognition between states and territories of fines imposed by courts of summary jurisdiction, which allows interstate fines to be enforced through the arrest and imprisonment of fine defaulters. The bill seeks to implement a decision of the Standing Committee of Attorneys-General by replacing that scheme with a simplified mechanism which no longer relies on arrest and imprisonment and instead applies the less punitive sanctions that have been introduced in the various jurisdictions.

Under the proposed scheme, a state or territory that is owed a fine may request enforcement in another jurisdiction. The fine is then registered in the jurisdiction in which the defaulter resides. Once registered, the fine can be enforced according to that jurisdiction’s own laws. Any money recovered is remitted to the state or territory that is owed the fine. The new scheme will apply to fines imposed after the bill’s commencement, and also to certain other precommencement fines—a measure that is principally targeted at persistent and recalcitrant defaulters.

The bill provides for a quicker, simpler and more efficient method of collecting interstate fines, and is therefore entirely consistent with the historic role of the Service and Execution of Process Act to make the service and execution of process between the several states and territories easier and uniform. On behalf of the coalition I am happy to support the bill.