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Trevor visited the Street Law Coffee Van program and over a cup of coffee with the Project’s Community Engagement worker revealed he had a upcoming court hearing regarding a charge of driving a motor vehicle without authorization to do so.

Fiona engaged with PCLC having been issued with a 7 Day Notice for over $335,000 in outstanding fines, all of which were toll fines. She was pressured by her former partner to use the toll road to travel to and from work, a trip that would take her approximately two hours each way. She was financially reliant on her former partner who refused to give her money to pay the tolls or infringements.

Pablo, in his late 20s, presented to PCLC with a large fine debt of over $206,000. Having come from an abusive home, he had no family support. He had also had a drug addiction since his teens, falling in with the wrong crowd, and he had significant mental health concerns. He had previously moved house multiple times and was neither able to cope with his job nor hold on to it. Pablo’s mental health deteriorated through COVID and when seeking help, was overwhelmed by the lack of mental health resources available and gave up hope. Pablo was living in fear of being arrested and jailed for the fines.

Wendy was a sole parent of one dependent child renting in the City of Kingston. She was a victim survivor of family violence and had rental arrears of several thousand dollars. She did not attend her possession order hearing in the Melbourne Magistrate’s Court (MCV) and a possession order was granted in her absence. Her rental provider subsequently sought a warrant of possession from Police for the eviction.