Challenging unjust bail laws
KEY PROJECT | Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ Rights | Dignity for People in Prison
Victoria’s discriminatory bail laws have driven up the number of people in prison and are disproportionately impacting women experiencing poverty and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.
Between 2016 and 2019, the Victorian government made knee-jerk changes to Victoria’s bail laws largely in response to a violent act committed by one man. These changes have driven up the number of people in prison, with women experiencing poverty and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women impacted most.
Women are being denied bail, not because they pose a risk to the community, but because they themselves are at risk – of family violence, homelessness, economic disadvantage and mental illness. As a result, over 50 per cent of the women and 80 per cent of the children in Victorian prisons are unsentenced. Even just a short time in prison can have lifelong consequences. Women lose their jobs, their housing stability, and their children can be taken into care.
These laws place the burden on the defendant or their lawyer to prove why the person should be on bail, rather than the police having to show a reason why the person should be in custody until a trial. Prior to these changes, the reverse onus test was only applied to very serious offences where the person could be a threat to the community. Now, repeat low level offences like shoplifting are sending people to prison before they have been sentenced. To understand more about the impacts of these laws, you can read our detailed explainer.
For years, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, human rights, legal and advocacy groups have been calling on the Andrews government to fix the state’s bail laws, which are some of the most dangerous and discriminatory in the country.
In 2022, a parliamentary committee conducted a review into Victoria’s criminal legal system. The Human Rights Law Centre gave evidence to the inquiry calling for a suite of changes to end discrimination and injustice in Victoria’s criminal legal system. After hearing extensive evidence, the Committee’s final report made 100 recommendations for change, including that the Andrews government review the operation of the state’s bail laws. In 2023, the Andrews Government acknowledged that these laws are broken. We are continuing to advocate to change the state’s bail laws to end the unjust imprisonment of people experiencing disadvantage.
Victoria's unjust bail laws form part of a national trend towards regressive bail laws across the country that are driving up the number of unsentenced people in prison. This is particularly the case in the Northern Territory and Queensland where we opposed amendments to youth justice laws that have resulted in the number of children driven into prisons skyrocketing.