INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
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Experts say the law disproportionately affects indigenous Australians
Campaigners in Australia have raised hundreds of thousands of dollars to help free Aboriginal women jailed for being unable to pay
fines.Western Australia is the nation's only state that regularly jails people for unpaid fines, often on minor crimes.Experts note the
law disproportionately affects indigenous Australians, as well as poor and vulnerable people.The state government says it plans reforms this
year that will make it harder for people to be jailed.In the meantime, campaigners have begun fundraising to pay for fines incurred by
the most likely to be imprisoned for unpaid fines, due to high levels of disadvantage."These are cases of very poor Aboriginal women,
mothers living on the streets, in shelters," said Debbie Kilroy, from advocacy group Sisters Inside."They live below the poverty line so
they can't afford to pay off a fine."Ms Kilroy said they had helped free one woman on Wednesday who had been serving a 12-day jail stint
because she could not pay A$2,300 in vehicle-related fines
The woman had previously been living in her car, the campaigner said.How many people are affectedAcross all demographics, fewer than 10
people per month on average last year were jailed solely for unpaid fines in Western Australia, according to the state's Department of
Justice.That is a significant drop from 2010-2015, when more than 800 people were imprisoned each year, according to the independent Human
Rights Law Centre.The reductions followed a backlash over the death of a 22-year-old Aboriginal woman in 2014, who had been placed in
custody over an unpaid fine.However, Ms Kilroy asserted that she was aware of 2,400 current outstanding warrants for unpaid fines across the
What is the campaign's aimIt is hoping to help clear the debts of at least 100 Aboriginal women who are either in jail, or facing
incarceration due to such warrants.The group has already settled three warrants this week using the donations."It has raised my hope in
humanity in terms of people caring about Aboriginal women, who are the most marginalised in our country," Ms Kilroy told the
TheIndianSubcontinent.What do authorities sayThe state government, elected in 2017, has said that by July it will change the law to allow
only a magistrate to order jail time for unpaid fines
Currently, warrants can be issued by a fine enforcement agency.The proposed change would ensure that imprisonment for unpaid fines "is truly
a last resort", said a spokesman for state Attorney-General John Quigley."This is something the government is committed to addressing
effectively," the spokesman said.Last year, the Australian government's annual report card on reducing indigenous disadvantage found
improvement in only three of seven key benchmarks.
