Hi there. The information below may be relevant to your situation but should not be treated as specific legal advice.

A fine issued in Victoria goes through several stages. At first, an infringement notice is issued. If it remains unpaid, then it becomes an enforcement order and then an infringement warrant. If you have an infringement warrant in your name, this means that the Sheriff (if directed by the Infringements Court) can, amongst other things, seize and sell your assets, suspend your driver licence, or wheel clamp your vehicle. In some circumstances, a Sheriff may be authorised to arrest you.

The Sheriff’s Office will generally not take any of these actions to execute an infringement warrant until it has issued a document called a ‘Seven Day Notice’. If you have received a Seven Day Notice, this means that you have seven days to pay your outstanding fine, otherwise the Sheriff may take the above actions to execute the warrant.

You are not likely to face problems travelling to and from New Zealand as Australia’s borders are controlled by the Commonwealth Government rather than the State-based Sheriff’s Office. However, many of Australia’s law enforcement agencies share information about individuals of interest, such as those persons with a warrant issued in their name.