The Victorian government has backflipped on its plans for lenient youth bail policies.
Originally, the Allan Labor government intended to pass a bail amendment that would have allowed young people to receive bail faster after being charged with minor offences.
However, just before it was set to pass parliament with majority crossbench support, the government announced it would move the “presumption of bail for children” to a later youth justice bill in early 2024.
Attorney General Jaclyn Symes attributed the move to ensuring the safety of Victorians.
“That’s a responsibility that I take seriously, as well as responding to the reality of crime,” Ms. Symes emphasised.
She said that is why government reforms maintain a “tough approach” toward those who pose a severe risk to people’s safety.
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“These reforms are sensible, proportionate, and necessary. They get the balance right and address the most urgent changes needed to our bail system so that we have a more balanced approach for those accused of minor, non-violent offending,” she said.
“This is not a backflip; this is just a pause. The practical effects of this are minimal,” she added.
Certain provisions of the bill, such as banning offenders—charged with specific low-level offences—from being remanded and revoking bail-related crimes introduced in 2013, will remain.
‘Incredibly Weak’: Greens
The move has sparked outrage from some quarters.The Victorian Greens argued that it could lead to lifelong damage to children “needlessly exposed to prison” rather than improved individual outcomes and community safety.
The left-wing party said more than one in three (37.4 percent) people currently detained in Victoria are not sentenced, which is even higher for women, young children, and Indigenous Victorians.
Victorian Greens justice spokesperson Katherine Copsey said Premier Allan’s “last-minute backflip” was a sign she lacked commitment to justice.
“Without urgent and meaningful reform, the Victorian Labor government’s enduring legacy may well be that their justice policies were directly responsible for the imprisonment of more disadvantaged people than at any time in recorded history,” Ms. Copsey said.
The debate comes after findings from a coronial inquiry into the death of Veronica Nelson, which found that current bail laws had a “discriminatory impact” on disadvantaged groups.
After being transferred to a cell at Dame Phyllis Frost jail when refused bail, Ms. Nelson was found with an undiagnosed stomach condition and heroin withdrawal.
The coroner described the Labor government’s changes to the Bail Act in 2018 as “a complete and unmitigated disaster.”
According to the Parliament of Victoria, the bail law reforms were prompted by the 2017 Bourke Street Mall attack where Dimitrious Gargasoulas was released on bail days before he drove into pedestrians, killing six and injuring 27 people.
As a result, Victoria’s bail laws became the toughest in the country.
The coroner called for urgent reform, particularly to the provisions causing adverse effects on vulnerable groups, including children.
Meanwhile, the Human Rights Law Centre has called on the government to fully commit to and implement the Yoorrook Justice Commission recommendations, including creating a presumption in favour of bail and prohibiting the detention of children under 16.
Amala Ramarathinam, a human rights lawyer, claimed the government’s bail laws have been a “disaster for children and young people,” adding they are “racist, punitive, unjust and entrench disadvantage.”
Support for Labor’s Response to Crime
On the other hand, some political figures, such as Legislative Council Leader of the Opposition Georgie Crozier, have supported the government’s move, expressing concern about Victoria’s rising crime rate, particularly amongst young offenders.Ms. Crozier said in just a few weeks, 20 Victorian tobacco stores had been torched.
A tobacco store at Oakleigh in Melbourne’s inner southeast was destroyed in a suspected arson attack on Sept. 21.
“This bill would have seen young offenders facing the state’s weakest tests for bail, even for some of the most serious of offences, and that is why we proposed wholesale amendments in response to these dangerous proposals,” she said.
“Under the premiership of Ms. Allan, this government will do more consulting and listening to the community because of those concerns. Weakening youth bail laws was always a dangerous move by the Labor government.”
Further, Shadow Attorney General Michael O’Brien welcomed the change, noting that the bill would have made no sense.
“The government’s bill would have seen a young person charged with serious offences such as armed robbery, aggravated home invasions, or rape, facing the same test for bail as a young person who pinches a car or steals a packet of Chewy from the service station,” Mr. O’Brien said.
