- Published:
- Wednesday 12 March 2025 at 12:48 pm
Proposed tightening of Victoria’s bail laws will have a disproportionate and detrimental effect on people already dealing with poverty, homelessness and the impacts of trauma.
‘The changes announced today are a backwards step for Victoria. These changes will cause serious harm to people in our community who need the most support and will further entrench systemic racism in the justice system,' said Executive Director Kate Bundrock from our Criminal Law team.
‘Remanding more people is a band-aid approach. Instead, we need to take meaningful action to reconnect children to their communities and education, and to address the underlying causes of crime.’
This includes increasing access to bail support programs and early intervention and prevention programs, which have been shown to significantly reduce reoffending and improve other health and wellbeing outcomes in children and families.
The bail reforms, which were implemented less than a year ago, were the product of extensive consultation, and have reduced the number of people remanded for minor offending.
Importantly, the reforms were also informed by the advocacy, strength and resilience of First Nations families whose loved ones died in custody, decades after a Royal Commission identified solutions to prevent such tragedies.
‘To consider these changes without implementing the recommendations from countless First Nations-led enquiries is in direct conflict with the government’s commitment to truth-telling and Treaty,’ said Executive Director Ashley Morris from our First Nations Services directorate.
‘The government is also ignoring the findings of a coronial inquest into the death of a First Nations woman which labelled the bail system as an ‘unmitigated disaster’.
‘These proposed changes won’t improve community safety, they will further harm people who have been routinely failed by our systems, as identified in the Yoorrook for Justice report,’ said Ashley.
Our experience in courts across Victoria
We provide duty lawyer services in courts across the state, including the Bail and Remand Court in Melbourne and the Weekend Online and Remand Court for children.
Our service data shows that since changes were made in March 2024 there has been:
- an 11% reduction in bail being granted to adult clients of duty lawyer services
- an 8% reduction in bail being granted to children receiving duty lawyer services.
‘This is primarily because the reforms are working to reduce the number of people spending time on remand when facing minor charges, like stealing a soft drink or some food. People facing remand now are those charged with more serious offences’ said Kate.
‘The changes announced today mean that we will see a return to people being locked up for minor offending’.
Our concerns with the proposed changes
We remain ready to consult with the government and look forward to seeing the detail of the bill to be introduced to parliament. Based on our practice experience, we hold concerns about these proposals:
- Remand as a last resort for children – The government is proposing to remove the requirement to consider remand as a last resort for children. Locking up children, away from their families and communities, should always be a last resort. It is sensible to only use remand as a last resort, because imprisoning children increases the likelihood of further offending.
- Indictable offences – The government is proposing that someone who commits an indictable offence while on bail for another indictable offence will need to show ‘compelling reasons’ before being granted bail. Although the term ‘indictable offence’ sounds serious, in reality this term covers a wide range of offences including shoplifting and drug possession. This means that a person who is on bail for stealing food and is then charged with possession of cannabis will face the same bail test as a person charged with manslaughter.
- Offence to breach bail conditions – The government is proposing to make it an offence to breach a bail condition. Such an offence isn't necessary because if a person does not comply with their bail conditions, the police can already ask the court to revoke their bail. Also, this type of offence tends to mean people get stuck in the criminal justice system, rather than being able to focus on rehabilitation.
- Community safety – The government is proposing that community safety should be the first consideration in deciding whether someone is placed on bail. The safety and wellbeing of the community is important to everyone, but remand is a short-term option, with harmful long-term consequences. To create stronger communities, we need to focus on ensuring people get the support they need with issues like housing, mental health concerns, drug and alcohol addiction and the impact of trauma.
Consultation still the best way forward
We are keen to continue to engage with government to share our practice experience and ensure there are appropriate protections in place for those most at risk from these laws. We urge government to listen carefully to the expertise of the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, Aboriginal community-controlled organisations, and the broader legal assistance sector.
‘From our practice experience when bail laws were tightened in 2018 we saw the unfair and at times tragic impact on First Nations people – particularly First Nations women – and others including people of colour, people dealing the impacts of family violence, mental health issues, homelessness and poverty,’ said Kate.
The best way to address harms felt in the community is to address the reasons why people commit offences. There are countless inquiries, reports, coronial investigations which provide the government with evidence-based and community-led solutions.
‘The government should be implementing the solutions identified in the Yoorrook for Justice Report, and Ngaga-Dji from the Koorie Youth Council to name just two community-led reports,’ said Ashley.
We urge the government to listen and act on this expert advice, before introducing these changes to parliament.
Media enquiries
For media enquiries please contact Acting Media, Communications and Engagement Manager Ala Al-Mahaidi at ala.almahaidi@vla.vic.gov.au or 0447 581 879
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