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Coronavirus fines totalling $2.3 million have been issued to teenagers in Victoria, prompting renewed calls for the penalties to be waived to avoid unnecessarily dragging young people into the justice system.
Data from the Department of Justice and Community Safety shows that to December 15 last year, 1560 COVID-19-related fines were issued to Victorians aged under 18, raising concerns young people and their families will be unable to pay sums that can run to more than $1600.
Victoria Police issue pandemic-related fines at a refugee rights protest in Preston earlier this year.
Community legal practitioners working with young people who were fined say the âexcessiveâ penalties are in some cases 10 times higher than what minors would normally receive for offences in the Childrenâs Court, for what were in many cases inadvertent breaches.