Victoria’s contentious bail laws, which doubled the imprisonment rate of Aboriginal women, are set to be loosened within months, as the opposition warns the changes must not lead to violent offenders being released into the community.
The Coalition has signalled a willingness to offer bipartisan support for the wide-ranging reforms but warned the government must put “community safety first”.
In January, a coroner handed down damning findings into the 2020 death in custody of Indigenous woman Veronica Nelson, concluding the state’s bail law had resulted in a “complete, unmitigated disaster”.
The attorney general, Jaclyn Symes, on Sunday stressed the Andrews government has “no plans to weaken the laws” for offenders who pose a serious community safety risk.
“Victorians know the difference between violent and non-violent crime – our current bail laws however, don’t properly distinguish between the two. What is under consideration seeks to strike the right balance,” she said in a statement.
The opposition attorney general spokesman, Michael O’Brien, on Sunday reinforced the importance of balance.
“Bail reform is important but community safety must always be the priority,” he said. “We cannot see a situation where aggravated burglars are put back on the streets to reoffend time and again.”
Guardian Australia understands the proposed changes will target the contentious reverse-onus test so that it does not apply to low-level offenders. Under the reverse onus test, the accused has to demonstrate why bail should be granted rather than police having to show a reason for bail to be denied. It will also tweak the unacceptable risk test – a threshold used to determine if someones poses a flight risk or could endanger the public – so minor reoffending cannot be used for a reason to refuse bail.
It is understood the government plans to amend the state’s bail legislation to update existing factors that a bail decision maker, such as a magistrate, must consider when an applicant identifies as Indigenous, and will introduce Indigenous child-specific decision-making principles.
Symes conceded that Victoria’s bail legislation was not “working the way it should”.
“Remand and custody should be used to keep Victorians safe, not to unnecessarily punish vulnerable community members for minor crimes instead of helping get their lives back on track,” she said.
The deputy leader of the opposition, David Southwick, said bail reform was an “important step forward” but there must still be consequences for offenders who were “deliberate in their actions”.
“If they’re a risk to the community we need to ensure those people are put behind bars,” he said.
“It is important to get the balance right for those who are victims of circumstances .”
Following the 2017 Bourke Street Massacre – when James Gargasoulas left six people dead in a violent car attack while on bail – the government tightened the state’s bail laws, despite warnings from legal groups about unintended consequences for marginalised groups.
The changes were designed to keep repeat violent offenders out of the community but have disproportionately affected First Nations people and women, who are being remanded in custody for minor offences that would not ordinarily carry a sentence of imprisonment.
Coroner Simon McGregor used the findings into Nelson’s death to argue the state’s strict bail laws were incompatible with the charter of human rights. He said within a year of the 2018 bail law changes being introduced the rate of Indigenous female imprisonment had almost doubled in Victoria.
The state government will consult with stakeholders including First Nations Victorians, legal groups and Victoria Police over draft legislation it plans to introduce to parliament.
Nerita Waight, chief executive of the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service said the reform should not be “incremental or piecemeal.”
“We need wholesale reform of the bail laws,” she said.
“We want to bail reforms that ensure remand is only used as a last resort, bail hearings are fair, and there is a meaningful reduction in the over-incarceration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.”
