Thousands to get interest windfall in refunds for ‘invalid’ NSW Covid penalty notices
Thousands of people will be paid interest on top of refunds they receive from the NSW government for ‘invalid’ Covid fines issued during the pandemic but cancelled on legal advice.
Thousands of people will be paid interest on top of refunds from the NSW government for “invalid” Covid fines issued during the pandemic but cancelled on legal advice, costing the state hundreds of thousands of dollars.
It comes after The Australian revealed in November that Revenue NSW had withdrawn 23,539 Covid fines at a cost of about $5.5m in refunds to people who had paid the notices for breaching public health orders. Legal advice had deemed the penalty notices “invalid”. The state government is now set to pay back even more, agreeing to pay interest of up to $850 per payment at a likely cost of hundreds of thousands of dollars.
It follows a campaign by the Redfern Legal Centre and Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, who had challenged the government on the legality of the fines. According to their calculations, a person who paid a $1000 fine – the lowest issued amount – could receive between $30 and $170 in interest. Someone who paid $5000 – the largest issued amount – could receive up to $850.
Not all of the 23,539 withdrawn penalty notices had been paid. People who had will receive a refund with interest, while those who hadn’t will have their fines scrubbed.
Redfern Legal Centre supervising solicitor Samantha Lee said that including accrued interest in the refund was welcome but it was a “long-overdue” decision.
“We know these fines were disproportionately issued to marginalised communities, imposing a financial burden on those who could afford it the least,” she said.
“(Our) case focused on ensuring procedural fairness and upholding the rule of law. It is crucial, even in times of crisis, that the government ensures the law is applied and administered fairly.”
Jennifer Kanis, a principal lawyer at Maurice Blackburn and who leads its social justice practice, said the government’s decision would be welcomed by those left out of pocket by the “invalid fines”. “We are pleased the NSW government has agreed to not only repay the invalid fines, but also the interest accrued,” Ms Kanis said. “People paid the fines in good faith, based on the penalty notices they received.
“However, these notices were not actually valid under the law. It is only fair that the government pays interest on money they received and have had the benefit of because of an error on their part.
“Courts have previously ruled that interest should be paid when one party receives and retains money from another person without justification.
“We understand the government is now working to process both the repayments and interest payments and look forward to receiving more information on the mechanics of the repayment.”
When announcing the decision in November to cancel and refund the notices, NSW fines administration commissioner Scott Johnston said he took the decision on legal advice.
“Following representations made to the Commissioner of Police and myself concerning the validity of Covid penalty notices, I have decided to exercise my statutory authority and withdraw these notices,” he said.
That decision meant all the 60,000 or so fines issued for breaching public health orders became null and void, except those that are in front of, or already finalised by, the court system, given that those have been taken out of the government’s oversight.”
The decision was made after new legal advice recommended that the information contained in each notice might not comply with requirements of the Fines Act. Each notice didn’t contain enough or all information required under the act when being issued to alleged offenders.
November's decision followed the 2022 withdrawal of about 36,000 penalty notices in relation to four different Covid offences.
The Australian understands the refunds, with interest, will be processed shortly.
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