Sentencing (Offender Levy) Amendment Bill

Part 2 as introduced amended the definition of “fine” in the Social Security Act to include the offender levy. That was to allow Work and Income to disclose information such as addresses and telephone numbers to the court to enable the location of any beneficiary who is in default on payment of the offender levy.

The Justice and Electoral Committee amended Part 2 by creating a schedule of amendments, moving the proposed amendment to the Social Security Act to the schedule, and adding four other Acts. The definitions of “fine”, or “fines defaulter” in the case of the Tax Administration Act, are amended to include the offender levy. The amendments allow people who owe levies to be matched as part of the authorised information-matching programmes run by the Ministry of Justice. The schedule also amends the Summary Proceedings Act 1957 to ensure that if the court makes a payment order under sections 81 or 83, payments received from an offender are paid in the order of priority set out in new section 105C of the Sentencing Act. That order—for the sake of absolute clarity—is reparations first, offender levies second, and fines third.

Supplementary Order Paper 67 removes reference in the schedule to the Immigration Act 1987, because the intent of the amendment has been affected by a Supplementary Order Paper to the Immigration Bill.

Part 2 agreed to.

Schedule

The question was put that the amendment set out on Supplementary Order Paper 67 in the name of the Hon Simon Power to the schedule be agreed to.

Amendment agreed to.

Schedule as amended agreed to.

Clauses 1 to 3