Tranche two of Victoria’s bail laws spark grave concern across community organisations

Yesterday, the Victorian Government introduced the Bail Further Amendment Bill 2025 into Parliament, taking Victoria’s already extreme bail laws one step further. Under the proposed legislation, access to bail will be even more restricted, resulting in more unsentenced people on remand awaiting trial in Victoria’s already overstretched prisons. 

This second round of bail legislation has been introduced in spite of the overwhelming evidence – in reports, data, testimonies, inquiries and Aboriginal voices – that access to bail saves lives, and that keeping more people on remand does not keep communities safe.  

When people are on remand, they have no access to the services that may be making a significant positive difference in their lives, such as mental health, social work, and drug and alcohol services. 

If passed, the inclusions in the second round of bail amendments will: 

1. Set out a new “high harm” bail test for people accused of repeat offending for the following offences: aggravated home invasion, aggravated carjacking, armed robbery, aggravated burglary, home invasion, and carjacking. The high harm test will be even more stringent than requiring demonstration of exceptional circumstances – it requires a bail decision maker to be satisfied that it is highly likely that the alleged offender will not commit another high harm offence in order to grant bail. This will apply to all ages, and is a permanent measure. 

1. Create a new two strike rule for people already on bail who are accused of further offending, making it harder for them to get bail. A similar uplift test was previously repealed, and described by the Coroner’s Court of Victoria as an “unmitigated disaster” after the tragic death in custody of Veronica Nelson. The reintroduction of an uplift will mean individuals allegedly committing an indictable offence while on bail will be required to demonstrate "compelling reasons" for release on remand.  

The Victorian Government has also announced that it will be investing in hundreds of new prison staff and beds. In total, almost 1,000 additional adult prison beds will open across the system, and a further 88 beds will open at Cherry Creek and Parkville youth justice facilities. The expansion of prison services to cater to higher demand has been touted by the Victorian Government as a sign that its policies are working. Yet we know that more people in prisons is indicative of interrelated systems failings.  The announcement includes no new investment in prevention or early intervention programs targeted at stopping offending in the first place. 

Victorian community legal centres are deeply concerned that putting more unsentenced people in prison is being used as a marker of success.  

The number of people in Victorian prisons already exceeds their capacity to provide adequate care, and prisons are already experiencing unprecedented lockdowns due to staffing shortages. These lockdowns are causing protracted disruptions in peoples’ access to essential programs and healthcare, with significant impacts to their mental and physical health and noticeably higher rates of self-harm and suicidal ideation during these times. 

We know that if passed, this legislation will drive prison numbers higher. We are particularly concerned about the impact this will have on young people, who are at especially acute risk of experiencing lasting damage caused by time in prison; and Aboriginal people, who are massively overrepresented in Victorian prisons and experience higher levels of disadvantage and racism that put them at higher risk of incarceration. 

We are also seeing skyrocketing numbers of people with a disability being held on remand without access to critical supports. This includes many victim-survivors of family violence with acquired brain injuries as a result of the violence perpetrated against them. Bail refusal for people with a disability is often a result of a lack of consideration of disability by bail decision makers. This over-representation of people with a disability across all parts of the criminal legal system can be attributed to a range of factors closely connected to disability as opposed to the culpability of offending conduct.  

Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS) has led a powerful campaign to urge the government to rethink its position on bail laws, and instead, to invest in self-determined, culturally safe and trauma-informed, preventative and early intervention supports for people in or at risk of entering the criminal legal system. We stand with VALS and with the families of those whose loved ones have died unnecessarily in custody, and urge the government to commit to changing this broken system. 

Louisa Gibbs, CEO at the Federation of Community Legal Centres said: “We urge the Government to reflect on the evidence that shows keeping people incarcerated on remand without rehabilitation or access to social services increases their chances of reoffending.  A true commitment to community safety involves serious investment in early intervention and prevention – in health, education and social services that support our communities to thrive.   

Community legal centres work with victims of crime, people in or at risk of entering the criminal legal system, people experiencing structural disadvantage and racism, people living with disabilities, and Aboriginal clients. This frontline works gives us clear visibility of policies that work and policies that exacerbate problems, and to us it is unanimously and abundantly clear – that tightening bail laws fails to reduce crime in the long term and puts the lives and wellbeing of the human beings locked up at risk.” 

For more information, please contact Katie Wand at [email protected] or on 0435 294 859.