When Alira Kelly-Ryder lost her job and was unable to pay fines totalling $3,744, she was told prison was her only option.

Key points: Ms Kelly-Ryder says before losing her job she had been making regular repayments

Ms Kelly-Ryder says before losing her job she had been making regular repayments She says she offered to restart the repayments but was told jail was the only option

She says she offered to restart the repayments but was told jail was the only option An advocacy group stepped in and paid the Perth mother's fines

"I just wasn't in a financial position to pay that $3,000 up front, and there wasn't any option for me," she said.

Ms Kelly-Ryder said she had already paid off more than half the original total of about $8,000 in fines — which were a combination of driving and dog registration offences, compounded by administration costs — through $160 fortnightly payments, but missed two payments after losing her job.

She said she called the Fines Enforcement Registry to arrange to recommence the fortnightly payments but was given a sharp response by the woman to whom she spoke.

"She said 'no there is nothing we can do for you. You need to pay for [the] fines or you need to go to prison for seven days'," she said.

"Previous to that I had been paying $160 a fortnight for two years. It wasn't like I hadn't been paying, but they said my only option was prison."

'I had the kids lock the doors'

Ms Kelly-Ryder said she was also told that if she was stopped by police she was at risk of arrest over the fines.

"I had the kids lock the doors, shut the curtains. That frightened me," she said.

"I didn't drive to the shop, I didn't leave the house, I got my friend to buy milk and bread.

They could take me right there on the spot in front of my children and take me to prison."

Ms Kelly-Ryder said the threat of jail was particularly unsettling because of the 2014 death in custody of Aboriginal woman Ms Dhu.

The Perth mother is closely related to Ms Dhu and said her death had traumatised the family.

"She was in a police station and I've always thought that is where you get help," she said.

"She went to the police for help … and she died in custody. That frightens me and my children."

Alira Kelly-Ryder campaigned for laws to be changed in the wake of Ms Dhu's death. ( Supplied )

But then Ms Kelly-Ryder received an unexpected offer of help from prisoner advocacy group Sisters Inside, which has been raising money through an online campaign to free fine defaulters from prison.

It raised $100,000 in the first 24 hours with the total now topping $275,000 and the fundraising goal has since been increased to $325,000.

Ms Kelly-Ryder said she received a call from Sisters Inside and was supported by Debbie Kilroy, the chief executive of the Brisbane-based organisation, after a similar social call out raised the funds to pay her fine.

"She is amazing, she is one of a kind. I was shocked when I saw how much had been raised, because people really do care," Ms Kelly-Ryder said.

Fewer fine defaulters now in prison: Government

The WA Department of Justice said numbers of people jailed solely for fine defaulting had fallen sharply in the past 12 months — with the average daily population falling to "single digits".

WA Attorney-General John Quigley agreed, saying said recent figures also showed a recent drop in the number of Indigenous women in custody for fine defaulting.

Mr Quigley said the issue of fine defaulters going to prison would be addressed very soon.

"I have a whole raft of changes to the laws through the Cabinet, and [they] are currently with the Parliamentary Council for drafting to Parliament," he said.

"I have been working assiduously with the registrar of fines … to find other ways to reduce the numbers."

In terms of the money raised by Sisters Inside, Mr Quigley said he hoped it was being put to good use.

Ms Kilroy told the ABC the money raised by donors would be spent on supporting formerly incarcerated women and ensuring any outstanding warrants were paid so the women were not at risk of jail.

"The money will be there for any woman who's imprisoned, and the money will be spent on the community for women who have warrants for their arrest by the police.

"Every cent will be spent for the purposes of that … particularly Aboriginal mothers are the ones we want to target and prioritise to pay those fines, so those warrants are revoked, so they don't end up in prison."

Call for income-appropriate fines

WA Aboriginal Legal Service chief executive Dennis Eggington said Indigenous women, and those in poverty, were disproportionately affected by the practice of jailing for fines.

"Fines do not have any correlation to someone's income. If you get $420 on Centrelink and then face a $1,000 fine you are in real trouble and you are not going to be able to pay the fine," he said.

Dennis Eggington for some people it's easier to go to jail than find the money for fines. ( ABC News: Sarah Collard )

"WA could lead the country at looking at a way where fines are appropriate to the income no matter the offence."

"It's really a matter of indirect discrimination. If women are being overrepresented in warrants of commitment, that is having a devastating impact on children and their families."

He said there was a culture which had led to many Indigenous people feeling as though they had no choice but to go prison for fines.

"It's much easier to do a couple of days in jail and cut your fine out than to try and find the money to pay the fine," Mr Eggington said.

''It's an indictment on the country; It's an indictment on Australia as a whole that we as one of the most disadvantaged group in Australia have had to develop those ways to survive.

"It's a terrible, terrible thing."