Vic COVID-19 fines totalled $100m but bulk are unpaid

More than 50,000 fines totalling $100 million were handed to Victorians for breaching COVID-19 health orders but the vast majority remain unpaid.

Tens of millions of dollars in COVID-19 fines remain unpaid as Victorians are warned not to ignore their penalties. 

In Victorian state budget estimates on Friday, Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes said 50,150 fines totalling more than $100 million were issued for breaching health orders during the pandemic.

More than 5500 of those have been paid in full or part and 14,319 are unpaid past their due date, leading to enforcement warrants being issued.

Some 3716 people elected to take their 4052 fines to court and 11,800 were cancelled by enforcement agencies.

A further 152 fines were also registered with the Children's Court for enforcement.

So far the Victorian government has recouped $9.36m from COVID-19 fines paid in full and another $5.76m are subject to ongoing payment plans.

Despite more than 20 per cent of the fines being withdrawn, Ms Symes warned people not to ignore them as they can build up over time.

"Fines don't go away unless you take action for them," she told the Public Accounts and Estimates Committee.

"There is a variety of ways that you can seek to engage with the department to deal with your fines, whether it's through payment plans or whether people have got grounds to have them withdrawn."