# Diverting vulnerable people from debt spirals With [Revenue NSW](https://www.revenue.nsw.gov.au/) in 2023 I helped design a fine diversion service that used messages, letters, QR codes and a web portal to allow people to prove they fixed a traffic issue they had been fined for, to get it downgraded to a warning. This work won a [Gold Australian Good Design Award](https://good-design.org/projects/keeping-our-smallest-citizens-safe-with-new-fine-diversion-pathways/). ## Context Fine diversions are a proven and effective way of helping vulnerable people in society avoid hardship by forgiving the debt and penalty of a minor fine if they commit to and prove behaviour change. For someone who is homeless, escaping domestic violence, or in other vulnerable situations, every dollar matters. They will, rightfully so, prioritise a warm meal over paying a minor traffic fine. This often leads to snowballing debts and worsening hardship. When all a fine was meant to do was change someone's road behaviours, but it becomes the trigger for inescapable homelessness, something has gone wrong. Revenue NSW wanted to tackle this, and had recently finished a manual pilot for a single fine diversion type — first-offence incorrect child seat installation (which is more often than not a mistake made in good faith). The pilot, run with NSW Police, was a success and they needed to figure out how to scale it up to the whole state, and out to other types of fines. I was on that pilot expansion team, with the challenge of taking something manual and valuable into leveraging existing systems and scaling to millions of people. ## Service design We designed a service that started when a new fine was recorded at the police station, taking into account their interplay between existing platforms, and triggering a 'Diversion' option for the fine recipient. ![A screenshot of an email stating 'Make a safety change to avoid the fine' and continues to describe the recipient was reacently fined for driving without lights, but can avoid the fine if they fix the issue.](/images/work/fine-diversions/email.png "Similar messaging would be sent through every available communication channel we had for a customer at the same time to maximise opportunity of receipt.") The customer would get notified by the best contact details we had for them, and given the option to go to a relevant provider to fix the issue behind the fine. This included a triage moment and the ability to book an appointment. ![Screenshots of a phone flow, showing the form fields that allow a user to choose what provider to book an appointment with, and what time of day to book.](/images/work/fine-diversions/fines-screens.avif "Facilitated fine option and provider booking.") ## Physical and digital inclusivity A really important part of designing for very vulnerable people is to consider their lack of access to things we often take for granted. For various reasons, be they cultural, escaping violence, disability or financial hardship, the very people we were hoping to target with a service like this may not have access to a phone, a fixed address, or even feel safe going to a public library. Making sure this pilot scaled to those who needed it most meant designing for every channel variety at every touchpoint, and being forgiving in deadlines, timeframes and expectations. This translated into my designs through making sure that fine diversions were accessible in as many different formats as made sense, including entirely offline through letters, vouchers and physical submission. ![Two screenshots side by side of letter templates, the first 'Penalty diversion: Get a car seat fitted to avoid the fine' and the second 'Downgrade confirmation: We've downgraded your fine to a warning'.](/images/work/fine-diversions/2up-print.png "Prototype iterations to the New South Wales fine template, including diversion vouchers and physical confirmation.") ![A desk showing stacks of the letter templates printed, some laminated vouchers, and envelopes and scissors are visible on the side.](/images/work/fine-diversions/prints.jpeg "Our testing used literal branded envelopes and laminated vouchers attached to letters.") ## Digital rollout strategy with QR codes QR codes with unique values on the receipts and certificates were the verification of an issue fixed, and customers would scan them (or provide them to a Service NSW agent, or other potential organisations like community centres) to downgrade their fine to a warning. In addition, we created a strategy for identifying new fines to prioritise rollout to and how they could technically come into the fold when the time was right. The work of prioritising and building out new fine diversions is ongoing and is an integral part of the NSW MyFines product. Other diversions built with this approach include [Early Drug Detection Initiative](https://www.nsw.gov.au/money-and-taxes/fines-and-fees/support-and-community-services/early-drug-diversion-initiative#:~:text=EDDI%20aims%20to%20provide%20people,away%20from%20the%20court%20system) which saw a [6.4% diversion rate in 2024](https://www.unsw.edu.au/content/dam/pdfs/ada/sprc/research-reports/dpmp-drug-summit-2024-explainers/2024-10-how-is-the-early-drug-diversion-initiative-going-dpmp-2024-v2.pdf). ![A workflow diagram descriving how a form is submitted, all the process steps it goes through, and the text message templates sent if any step is triggered.](/images/work/fine-diversions/fines-2.png "Legacy system and tech restrictions forced some validation creativity.") ## Learning Firstly, money is core to interacting with society and for vulnerable people it's a difficult and traumatic subject that is often deliberately ignored despite consequences. Sometimes you must talk to people about their money, but if you focus the conversation on the inputs and outcomes (steps to take to resolve an issue, or benefits of solving an issue) you can, but not always, make that interaction more approachable. It's a delicate balance, and we aren't therapists and counsellors. Secondly, in public services you can't assume everyone has a phone or even a fixed address. You need to be smart with the data you have and forgiving in timelines and delays when enforcing. ![3 women and 1 man stand smiling, side by side in front of a wall of 'Good Design Awards' logos. They're dressed for a black tie event and one of the women is holding an award in front.](/images/work/fine-diversions/award-photo.avif "Our award photo. Left to right: Kate, Sarah, Laura, and myself.") ## In collaboration with - Kate Stone, Product Manager - Sharon Bicknell, Design Strategy - Sarah Ashman-Baird, Product Manager - Emily Dao, Research - Laura Ryan, Research & Strategy - Emma Hickey, SME - Karen Elder, SME