An Indigenous woman who went to a Perth police station for help after being bashed, robbed and left with a broken rib on the weekend was instead arrested for unpaid fines and sent to jail.

Key points: Keennan Dickie says she was jailed before she could report her assault

Keennan Dickie says she was jailed before she could report her assault Police claim the assault was not raised when she went to the station

Police claim the assault was not raised when she went to the station New WA laws will stop people being locked up for unpaid fines

Noongar woman Keennan Dickie said after being assaulted and robbed on Saturday night, she walked to a nearby fast food restaurant to seek help because her phone and money had been stolen.

Police officers who attended noted Ms Dickie's injuries and told her that she had outstanding fines and would need to attend a police station to settle them and to report her assault after she had recovered.

She spent the rest of the night in hospital, where x-rays confirmed she had a broken rib.

Ms Dickie said she went to Mirrabooka Police Station to report the assault the following day, but was taken into custody before she had a chance to do so.

"I asked to make a report about an assault from the previous night and while I was waiting, a police officer came out and informed me that I was under arrest," she said.

She was put in a holding cell and then transferred to Melaleuca Women's Prison.

'I was absolutely terrified'

Ms Dickie said she was still in pain and terrified, having never been to prison before.

"In the back of a [police van] there is nowhere to really buckle yourself in, so I felt every bump and every turn," she said.

"If you have a broken rib, you feel everything. That was probably the longest ride of my life.

"I was absolutely terrified because I had never even been in the back of a police car before."

She said she owed about $4,000 in unpaid fines for traffic offences and had planned to pay them off.

"I completely take responsibility for that," she said.

Keennan Dickie (right) at home with her sister Cheyenne Dickie (left). ( ABC News: Rhiannon Shine )

"I understand that I had unpaid fines, but I just wanted to be able to make my statement first while it was fresh in my mind."

Ms Dickie was supposed to spend two nights in prison, but after a prison guard contacted Queensland-based advocacy group Sisters Inside — which funds the release of Aboriginal women who have been imprisoned for unpaid fines— she was released early, on Monday afternoon.

Assault not raised: police

A WA Police spokeswoman confirmed police attended when Ms Dickie was injured at the weekend.

"Before she was taken to hospital by SJA [St John Ambulance], officers encouraged her to attend Mirrabooka Police Station at her convenience to both settle her outstanding warrants and to make an assault complaint if desired," she said.

"Without any prior arrangement, the woman voluntarily attended Mirrabooka Police Station and wished to discuss her outstanding warrants.

Ms Dhu died in police custody in the Pilbara town of South Hedland in August 2014. ( Supplied: Carol Roe )

"She did not raise with officers that she had been assaulted, nor did she make a complaint that she had been assaulted."

Police officers then attended Ms Dickie's house on Tuesday so she could report the assault, which is now under investigation.

'Shame on WA': Attorney-General

In the wake of the inquest into the 2014 death of Ms Dhu, an Indigenous woman who died in custody after being locked up for three days for unpaid fines totalling $3,622, WA Coroner Ros Fogliani called for laws to be changed so people could no longer be imprisoned for unpaid fines.

Ms Dickie's ordeal took place as WA Attorney-General John Quigley was preparing to introduce into Parliament legislation in response to that call.

One of the key proposed changes that will be introduced today would see imprisonment for non-payment of fines only possible on the orders of a magistrate and only as a last resort.

Mr Quigley said it was unacceptable for someone to be imprisoned for unpaid fines.

"A victim of an assault called for police assistance and as a result of that was arrested and put in prison," he said.

"Needless to say, she was an Indigenous woman. I have had a gutful and I am going to imminently introduce legislation that stops this happening.

"The coroner said in Ms Dhu's case there should not be imprisonment for unpaid fines. I have had a gutful of female victims calling the police for assistance only to be locked up and put in jail for unpaid fines.

"This is a shame on Western Australia."

Laws expected to slash prisoner numbers

The legislation would also enable orders to be issued to a debtor's employer or bank that required them to garnish funds from salaries or bank accounts.

Mr Quigley said safeguards had been built in to require a "protected amount" to remain in a person's salary or bank account.

Attorney-General John Quigley is introducing legislation to change the way fines are enforced and recovered in WA. ( ABC News: Andrew O'Connor )

"There are many people out there with jobs who just will not pay [their fines], and that has got to finish," he said.

For those facing poverty or financial hardship, new "work and development" orders would be issued which would be voluntary and supervised by community groups.

Mr Quigley said the proposed law reforms would save the State Government an estimated $1.8 million annually by keeping hundreds of people out of prison each year.

All unserved warrants would be cancelled once the legislation was passed, meaning thousands of West Australians who would otherwise have been arrested and jailed will be spared and instead dealt with under the new laws.

Prison population could drop 20 per cent

Law Society of Western Australia president Greg McIntyre SC said changes to infringement laws would significantly reduce the number of people who ended up in prison.

"I'm told more than 50 per cent of people in prison are there because they're cutting out a fine or because they're awaiting a trial and they can't get bail," he said.

"If we can reduce one of those things significantly, I suspect that we'll see a good 20 per cent reduction in those held in custody."

A community campaign has drawn attention to the imprisonment of fine defaulters. ( ABC North Coast: Samantha Turnbull )

Sisters Inside founder Debbie Kilroy started an online fundraising campaign at the beginning of the year under the #freeher banner to prevent women spending time in prison for unpaid fines.

The campaign has raised close to $450,000.

"And every cent of that money has gone to women's warrants to either release them from prison or pay the warrants so they are not at risk of being arrested by police," Ms Kilroy said.

"We are seeing over and over again the arrest of women living in poverty who cannot pay their fines.

"It is not that they don't want to pay their fines. We are seeing the criminalisation of poverty and the default response to that is prison."