What Happens to Your Debts While You’re Inside?
From credit cards to unpaid fines, understanding your rights and options while incarcerated
Alice Pasquale via Unsplash
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Legal Corner
Generally, debts can be put into two categories.
First, there are private debts (e.g. from a bank, a landlord, a car dealer, or ‘Afterpay’).
Second, there are debts owed to the State (e.g. unpaid fines).
When it comes to private debts, it’s important to know who you need to pay, and how much you owe.
You can ask for an account of your debts by contacting agencies such as ‘Equifax’ (PO Box 964, North Sydney NSW 2059).
In Queensland, debts are unable to be recovered after 6 years.
Importantly, the National Credit Code (NCC) is a useful tool.
Under the NCC, lenders can be charged if they do not do certain things once a borrower says they are in financial hardship.
If you tell a lender that you are in financial hardship, the lender must:
- respond to you,
- investigate your situation, and
- make a reasoned decision on whether to change the terms of your loan to accommodate the hardship.
If the lender doesn’t respond, or is unfair, you can complain to the Australian Finance Complaints Authority (AFCA) at (Australian Financial Complaints Authority Limited, GPO Box 3, Melbourne, VIC 3001).
Or, you can go to the Federal Court and ask a judge to change the terms of the loan.
The National Credit Code applies everywhere in Australia and can be found in Schedule 1 of the National Consumer Credit Protection Act.
Debts from unpaid fines are different.
In some jurisdictions including Queensland, you can you apply for work or alternative activities to count as payment of a fine debt under a Work Development Order (WDO).
You can also apply for a fine to be waived.
Each state will take into account different circumstances when deciding whether to waive your fine.
While it is important to look at the law that applies where you live, fines might be waived because of:
- Domestic and family violence;
- Special circumstances and unusual hardship;
- Medical reasons; and
- When you have no reasonable prospect of repayment.
To get a fine waived, you will need to write to the issuing agency and explain the reasons why you can’t pay.
Financial Counsellors can help you with debts. Ask if your prison offers financial counselling.
Generally, debts can be put into two categories.
First, there are private debts (e.g. from a bank, a landlord, a car dealer, or ‘Afterpay’).
Second, there are debts owed to the State (e.g. unpaid fines).
When it comes to private debts, it’s important to know who you need to pay, and how much you owe.
You can ask for an account of your debts by contacting agencies such as ‘Equifax’ (PO Box 964, North Sydney NSW 2059).
In Queensland, debts are unable to be recovered after 6 years.
Importantly, the National Credit Code (NCC) is a useful tool.
Under the NCC, lenders can be charged if they do not do certain things once a borrower says they are in financial hardship.
If you tell a lender that you are in financial hardship, the lender must:
- respond to you,
- investigate your situation, and
- make a reasoned decision on whether to change the terms of your loan to accommodate the hardship.
If the lender doesn’t respond, or is unfair, you can complain to the Australian Finance Complaints Authority (AFCA) at (Australian Financial Complaints Authority Limited, GPO Box 3, Melbourne, VIC 3001).
Or, you can go to the Federal Court and ask a judge to change the terms of the loan.
The National Credit Code applies everywhere in Australia and can be found in Schedule 1 of the National Consumer Credit Protection Act.
Debts from unpaid fines are different.
In some jurisdictions including Queensland, you can you apply for work or alternative activities to count as payment of a fine debt under a Work Development Order (WDO).
You can also apply for a fine to be waived.
Each state will take into account different circumstances when deciding whether to waive your fine.
While it is important to look at the law that applies where you live, fines might be waived because of:
- Domestic and family violence;
- Special circumstances and unusual hardship;
- Medical reasons; and
- When you have no reasonable prospect of repayment.
To get a fine waived, you will need to write to the issuing agency and explain the reasons why you can’t pay.
Financial Counsellors can help you with debts. Ask if your prison offers financial counselling.
Legal Q&A: Debt Relief
Legal Q&A: Debt Relief
Legal Q&A: Debt Relief
By Gazza
By Gazza
I am a first-time inmate in a Victorian prison and I am trying to obtain some accurate information with regards to my debts.
Legal Corner
ISSUE NO. 13
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3 MIN READ
Welcome to the Legal Corner
Welcome to the Legal Corner
Welcome to the Legal Corner
By About Time
By About Time
Through these articles, we provide information on relevant areas of law. This first article provides basic information to make it easier for family and friends to support you. There are differences in the ways the systems operate depending on where you’re located (VIC, NSW, ACT or TAS), so we hope this is useful and relevant to where you are.
Legal Corner
ISSUE NO. 1
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7 MIN READ
Bail: Common Questions
Bail: Common Questions
Bail: Common Questions
By Meg Tait and About Time (with help from Uther Webster & Evans Solicitors and Daniel Vansetten)
By Meg Tait and About Time (with help from Uther Webster & Evans Solicitors and Daniel Vansetten)
Bail is a promise you can make that you will return to court. It means you can stay in the community (instead of jail) until your legal matters finish. If you are being held in custody and you haven’t been found guilty, you may be able to apply for bail.
Legal Corner
ISSUE NO. 3
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15 MIN READ
FAQs: Security Classifications in Queensland
FAQs: Security Classifications in Queensland
FAQs: Security Classifications in Queensland
By Prisoners’ Legal Service
By Prisoners’ Legal Service
Your security classification impacts which prison you are placed in and the level of security that is imposed on you.
Legal Corner
ISSUE NO. 16
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2 MIN READ
Open Air in Prison: Your Rights Explained
By Human Rights Law Centre lawyers Monique Hurley and Sohini Mehta, with assistance from Connor Shaw and with Queensland-specific contributions from the Prisoners’ Legal Service Queensland.
With people in prisons across the country being subjected to an “epidemic of prison lockdowns”, it is important to note that bare minimum safeguards exist in law, in most jurisdictions, that purport to guarantee at least some time ‘in the open air’ each day for people behind bars.
Legal Corner
ISSUE NO. 22
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5 MIN READ
Law and Healthcare: Why Can’t I Get My Usual Prescriptions From Prison?
By Prisoners' Legal Service Queensland
There is a lot of talk about human rights in prison – with things like ‘the Mandela Rules’, ‘the principle of equivalence’, and access to health care without discrimination.
Legal Corner
ISSUE NO. 21
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2 MIN READ
Self-Advocacy from Prison: Procedural Fairness
By Dan Vansetten
Procedural fairness, often called “natural justice”, is a collection of rights, established under common law in Australia around the 1980s.
Legal Corner
ISSUE NO. 21
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2 MIN READ
Confusing Decision Made About You? Maybe FOI Can Help
By Dan Vansetten
The concern for those who are subjected to government decisions is that they often do not get to see the integrity of the information which was considered by the decision-maker and don’t get to check if it’s correct.
Legal Corner