Wednesday, 19 March 2025

Bills

Bail Amendment (Tough Bail) Bill 2025

Second reading

Debate resumed on motion of Enver Erdogan:

That the bill be now read a second time.

Evan MULHOLLAND (Northern Metropolitan) (18:23): You can see what a political exercise this is just by the title of this bill: the Bail Amendment (Tough Bail) Bill 2025. Titles of bills are not places for political slogans from a Premier desperate to save her job. This is not about community safety, this is the Premier’s own job safety protection racket. That is what this bill actually is. We have seen farce after farce when it comes to bail laws – and I will go on to the crime on our streets later – but particularly in the process behind these bail laws. We had the part-time Attorney-General fail to give us the bill prior to a bill briefing. I mean, how pathetic – how disrespectful to crossbench colleagues and to the opposition that need to get their heads around legislation. I am guessing it was very disrespectful to Labor backbench members as well, because they would not have had a copy of what was in the bill either. I think it is quite disrespectful to this chamber of Parliament and to that chamber of Parliament that the government was not forthcoming with the bill, so we did not know what was actually in the bill in the first place.

It is no wonder the part-time Attorney-General was so reluctant to provide us with a copy of the bill. The more you look, the weaker this bill gets. The fact that they have used the word ‘tough’ in the title of the bill – they are kidding themselves. It will not kid Victorians. Here is why Labor’s bail changes do not do enough to keep Victorians safe. Firstly, the so-called toughest bail test for repeat serious offenders is not in the bill, not that the backbench members on that side would have read it. The Allan Labor government has failed to deliver on this promise and is now saying this change will be delayed for months. It will instead introduce laws across two different bills, meaning some promised new measures might not come into effect until later this year. They include a new bail test for repeat offenders that promises to make it harder for serial offenders to be released and get back on the streets. Instead that measure will be addressed in a second bill, despite a lot of criticism that the government has reneged on its promise to immediately deal with the crime crisis. They cannot. And why? Because they have run out of money. They do not have the resources. They need to pad it out.

Secondly, the offence of committing an indictable offence whilst on bail is being reinstated, but it will have no impact on raising the actual test for bail – something I have spoken about, my colleagues have spoken about and the Shadow Attorney-General has spoken about over and over and over again. It will not have an impact on raising the test for bail. Previously a person charged with an offence faced an uplifted test to stay on bail. This is not in Labor’s bill, and any change will be delayed for months. We are not going to see a difference.

The Premier wants to say on Thursday or Friday, when the crime stats come out, ‘Oh, we’ve introduced and passed the toughest bail bill.’ It is not tough. It does not reverse the changes that this government made to bail that weakened our laws, that resulted in four deaths, that resulted in crime on our streets. Repeat offenders are continuously getting out, laughing on social media about going into the cop shop and being out within 90 minutes. They are laughing at you. This is not tough; this is pathetic. It is pathetic the government weakened the laws in the first place, and this bill that they have brought into this place is pathetic.

The offence of breaching bail conditions is being reinstated, but in a weakened form as contravention will not result in the offender facing a stronger bail test. People under 18 years will face no criminal sanction for breaching bail conditions, undermining why bail conditions are being imposed. No-one wants to see children in prison, but I think we have to accept the current realities of the situation plaguing Victoria. Whether it be places like Greenvale, Craigieburn or Kalkallo in my electorate, Bendigo in Mrs Broad’s electorate, Glen Waverley in Mr Welch’s electorate or Geelong in Mrs McArthur’s electorate, they are being plagued by repeat offenders out on bail committing heinous crimes. There have been several stories of kids out on bail having been involved in high-speed car chases, stealing cars and on crime sprees, travelling from Mrs McArthur’s electorate to the Western Metro Region, to the Northern Metro Region and to the North-Eastern Metro Region and back again, stealing about three cars in the process. This is the result of the government’s weakened bail laws.

Serious offences, including burglary and robbery, are not listed as schedule 1 or schedule 2 offences, meaning alleged offenders receive a presumption of bail and have the weakest test to receive it. If someone on bail burgles your house or robs your store, they are out again, even though they have committed an offence whilst on bail, which is now considered a summary offence. This is just ridiculous. It is laughable. The only thing that has got tougher in this bill is the name of it. That is all. That is literally the only thing that got tougher. The uplift has been separated, so the only thing that is tough is the actual name – because you put it there. Well, I say to the Premier: the public are not buying your spin. The public have had enough.

Labor have refused to reverse their cuts to Court Services Victoria, including a $19.1 million cut this year and a $58 million cut in 2027–28, which are contributing to trial delays and seeing more alleged offenders offered bail. The best that Labor can do on bail laws is come up with a bill with the word ‘tough’ in the title. Victorians know that this is no substitute for strong and smart bail changes that will put the safety of the community first. This is just ridiculous.

We know the government. I was here in March 2023 as they weakened the bail laws and I was here again about six months later, before those changes came into effect, actually, discussing this and discussing some of the impact they would have in March 2024 when they came into effect and what it would do and what the changes would mean by lowering the test.

I know many on the other side of the chamber, and on this side of the chamber hopefully as well, know that I do not overlook Hansard when putting together speeches on these kinds of matters. So let us stroll down memory lane and see what colleagues in this chamber thought about the changes in the Bail Amendment Bill 2023. Ms Shing said:

The reforms we are now introducing seek to ensure that all members of the community are protected …

There should be consequences for breaching bail, but it is clear that the current consequences are too harsh and too broadly applied.

…

I want to emphasise that accused people must comply with their bail conditions, and that alleged offending while on bail is a serious matter.

Ms Shing said ‘alleged offending while on bail is serious matter’ in 2023. It is a serious matter, sure, but that is just words. Does it result in an uplift in the test to get bail again? No. Does it result in any serious criminal charges? No.

Mr Berger said:

Its purpose is to address and solve the problems with the current bail laws while ensuring there remains a focus on community safety …

These reforms are designed to make Victoria a safer state, and individuals who have been proven to have no regard for the continued safety of the community will in turn be dealt with appropriately.

Was the offender who received bail over 50 times dealt with appropriately, Mr Berger? Probably not.

Ms Ermacora in her 2023 contribution said:

These are the toughest bail laws in Australia.

That seems to go against the title of this bill. Jacinta said almost two years later that this is the toughest bail bill in Australia. I would love to see an explanation, perhaps from Ms Ermacora, of what the difference of opinion is. Was that just less tough and this is more tough, or was the previous bill more tough – the previous bill which we know the government has had to reverse and which the government has apologised for? The government apologised: ‘We got it wrong.’ In 2023 Ms Ermacora said that it was tough. Mr Batchelor says that:

This legislation will make our bail laws fairer for vulnerable and disadvantaged people while continuing to take an appropriately tough approach to those who pose a serious risk to Victorians.

Well, I reckon there are a lot of people out there who pose a serious risk to Victorians, particularly people who continuously steal cars. One car is stolen about every 8 hours in the city of Hume, and a lot of them are stolen by people that are out on bail. I do not think this makes it fairer. I do not think it has resulted in the changes they thought it would. Mr Batchelor said that these changes to the Bail Act 1977 would:

… ensure that our bail laws protect the community …

Well, they have not. The Premier literally had to apologise for them – for terrorising suburbs. But we know Mr Batchelor and others were part of the same crowd that just dismissed crime in their community – in the Southern Metropolitan Region, no less. They pretended like crime in places like Brighton and Malvern was a case of ‘nothing to see here’ and it was just a fascination of the rich and wealthy influencers; the same influencers dismissed rudely by the former Premier Daniel Andrews, the same influencers that Jacinta Allan is trying to get Eddie McGuire to broker a meeting with – those ones. He has thoroughly failed in his duty as a member for Southern Metropolitan Region to look after his community and acknowledge the serious impact that crime is causing that community.

Mr Galea – I know I mentioned him previously, but he was the only one who really spoke about machetes previously, and he criticised our position on machetes, but he also spoke on the Bail Amendment Bill 2023, so I was not going to leave him off. He said the bill:

… will implement reforms to significantly improve our bail system, ensuring appropriate and proportional decision-making that does not needlessly harm vulnerable people or compromise community safety.

Well, it certainly has compromised community safety. We know that. We know that the changes when they weakened the bail laws compromised community safety.

I was not going to go through this big, long list without leaving off Mr McIntosh. I did keep his speaking notes from 2023, when he was still using speaking notes – he has come a long way. He said that:

… Victoria currently has some of the strictest bail laws in the country …

But he was not gloating about us having the strictest bail laws in the country. He said the Bail Amendment Bill 2023 gives us an opportunity to make things right. So we know that in their bleeding heart of hearts they actually want weaker bail laws. That is what they want. They know they want that. They are only coming here now with a political fix because of the Premier’s poll ratings and poll numbers, not because they actually care about community safety. Mr McIntosh said:

It will create a bail system that is fairer and more flexible for our decision-makers to consider the circumstances of offending.

Well, it actually did not. The fact that you can go 20, 30, 40, 50, almost 60 times breaching bail – committing an offence whilst on bail – shows that decision-makers have no power to consider the offending. When it is a last resort for decision-makers to keep them on remand, their hands are tied when it comes to their decision-making. I am looking forward to, as the rest my colleagues are, hearing about Mr McIntosh’s ‘come to Jesus’ moment, where he discovered that this was an issue and that strict bail laws were not bad anymore. I know that he spoke of strict bail laws with negative connotations in 2023, so he will scrap the word ‘strict’ from his speaking notes and he is going to use the word ‘tough’. Tough is really important. The word ‘tough’ is the only thing tough about this bill.

Ms Watt said that they are recognising there is a problem and, importantly, acting on it. She said:

The bill … demonstrates very clearly that we are getting on with the job.

Ms Symes, who called the previous laws an unmitigated disaster, said that this was a priority of hers and that:

… it is somewhat surreal to know that we are so close to making some significant reforms.

She said this government are of the view that they:

… strike the right balance between ensuring people are not unnecessarily remanded and seeing that we have sufficient safeguards to maintain community safety.

We now know that there were no safeguards to maintain community safety – none. She said:

I do want to ensure that bail is not used to unnecessarily lock up people who do not pose a risk to community safety.

She went a bit far on that one, because we did not lock up a lot of people that were very unsafe to the community. That resulted in several deaths, and that resulted in violent crime on our streets. I have spoken to victims of crime in my electorate, particularly victims of crime by people that have been on bail. I hosted Brad Battin at a crime forum last year in Mickleham, in the growth areas of the outer north, and I also hosted our shadow police minister David Southwick a month ago at a crime forum in Greenvale and Craigieburn. The message from the community is that they have had enough. They are exhausted. They are sick of having their cars stolen. They are sick of having their homes broken into. They are sick of what is going on in our streets. They are sick of the tobacco wars. But they are particularly concerned about community safety in a way they have never been before. Many migrant families have come to Victoria to achieve the great Australian dream but also to live safely in a peaceful and harmonious community. At the moment that is not the case because of the crime crisis that we are seeing in our community.

I do have a number of amendments to the Bail Amendment (Tough Bail) Bill 2025, and I ask for those amendments to be circulated.

Amendments circulated pursuant to standing orders.

Evan MULHOLLAND: The first amendment is that the short title of the bill be amended to ‘Bail Amendment Bill 2025’ and the ‘tough bail’ slogan deleted wherever it appears in the bill, because as I explained, there is nothing tough about this bill. Everything tough about it has been either weakened or moved off to another bill. Even the toughest bail test is not in the bill.

Our second amendment will be the reinstatement of the offence of committing an indictable offence whilst on bail, which should have the effect of uplifting the test for remaining on bail as it used to – that is, the reinstatement of breaching bail conditions (a) should be an indictable offence and (b) should have the effect of uplifting the test for remaining on bail.

The exemption for minors for the offence of breaching bail conditions should be deleted and the offences of robbery, burglary and arson should be listed as schedule 2 offences. I am happy to speak about those later, but as I discussed, this bill does not actually go a long way to ensuring that it is actually tough. So the least we can do is to be honest. When people have really suffered as a result of the crime crisis we are seeing on our streets, the last things that should be contained in legislation are political slogans. This government does it all the time, but we are not going to cop that, particularly for a bill that does not actually increase its toughness.

I want to speak quickly on the Bail Amendment (Indictable Offences Whilst on Bail) Bill 2024, because I also had a read of the speeches on that bill. On that bill, which was just reintroducing the offence of committing an indictable offence whilst on bail, Mr Galea said that they had the balance right on community safety – they did. He said:

Getting that balance right is something that you do not just do in a flash of a brainwave before a sitting week because you are trying to fill out your agenda.

…

I am not saying that they deliberately sought to make bail worse, but that is what happens when you try and amend complex legislation on the fly, and it is what we see right here today.

So he accused us of making complex changes to bail ‘on the fly’, but here we are debating an urgent bill we only got a copy of late Monday night. So I do not think it is us making complex changes on the fly. It is this government making very complex changes on the fly. He said:

But that is not how this government crafts our laws, and it is not how any serious government crafts our laws.

That is exactly what they did! You make it too easy, guys. He also said:

We know how important it is to ensure that our criminal justice system is prepared with a clear and comprehensive view of what the consequences for Victoria will be, rather than to simply be seen to be doing something, to grab that headline on the front of the Herald Sun or on 3AW or on Facebook or on TikTok or wherever it is that you seek to promote it. It is not just about putting that headline forward, it is about serious work that has serious implications for everyday Victorians.

And he said:

So for them to say ‘This is an issue; we’re fixing it’ completely flies in the face of all logic …

Jacinta Allan has basically said the same thing: ‘This is an issue and we’re fixing it.’ She does not think it is an issue for the community, but she thinks it is an issue for her leadership. We know that she has apologised for getting it wrong. I would like to hear an apology from all the members opposite for getting it wrong. If they were serious they would support our amendments as well. We know that for a long time the Premier, the Attorney-General and the Minister for Police dismissed our calls that this was an issue. We know that the Allan government ignored Shane Patton’s advice and plan to fix the state’s failed bail system, and that was put to her two weeks before he got the chop. So you put advice, you get dismissed. That is what happens under this government:

… whistleblowers say the then-chief was told by a senior official that the government did not have enough cash or prison beds to implement the proposal.

This came as:

… repeat offenders being released into the community up to 55 times

and pressure grew for an overhaul. Isn’t it ironic that the very next day the Premier rushes to announce changes to bail. ‘The Premier finally put Victorians’ safety first with tough new bail laws after public outcry at crime crisis; – there is your Herald Sun headline, Mr Galea, that you were goading us about. I remember; I was sitting right there. He was goading us that we were just after a headline in the Herald Sun. Look how low you have stooped. We know that these are not Labor values, but you have got a Premier who is desperate to hold on to her own job. We will pretend she cares about community safety, but really we know she only cares about her own job. If she cared about community safety, she would have supported our previous bills or amendments or done something a lot earlier when the crime stats started to increase to record levels. But she did nothing about it.

There are a lot of questions to answer in terms of today. We know that Premier Jacinta Allan, the police minister Anthony Carbines and acting police commissioner Rick Nugent have been accused of corruption and misconduct in public office over the axing of the state’s two top cops. Ousted deputy commissioner Neil Paterson has filed an explosive complaint with IBAC alleging that he and dumped chief commissioner Shane Patton were the victims of an unlawful conspiracy. Mr Paterson has called for an investigation into whether the government approached Mr Nugent to take over the role of chief commissioner before moving to ditch Mr Patton.

Jacinta Ermacora: On a point of order, Acting President, I am not sure if what is being raised now is actually in the bill.

The ACTING PRESIDENT (John Berger): Mr Mulholland, I will draw you back to the bill for the duration of your speech.

Evan MULHOLLAND: That is all right. I was talking about the fact that two weeks after his suggestion of bail changes he got the sack. I think there are questions to answer in regard to that and the changes that he proposed.

We know that the Premier has apologised, but we know that this bill does nothing to solve the crime crisis that we are seeing on our streets. Somehow we have ended up with a botched bill, and that is because the government has not taken the time to get this right. They are drafting legislation on the fly. They are cutting Court Services Victoria. They have cut rehabilitation services here in Victoria and cut correctional programs to get kids on the right pathways.

I think one of the most interesting things in this debate has been the attempt by the Premier to blame the weakening of the bail laws on the former Premier Daniel Andrews. Despite her attempt to rewrite history, I remind the Premier that it was her government and her Attorney-General and her Treasurer that got us into this mess. You are personally responsible for this. We have been unwavering in our position; the member for Malvern has been unwavering in our position. We have bought amendments and bills to this chamber several times. The opposition will not be opposing this bill, but we will try to make it better.

Jacinta ERMACORA (Western Victoria) (18:53): I am proud to speak on this bill. We have listened to community. We have read the crime data and responded to a changing dynamic and to a range of other issues that have emerged since we last legislated in this space. Earlier this week I spoke about the government’s vigilance to any changes to threats facing our community. This bill is another example of that vigilance. The number of youth offenders on remand increased following the changes in 2024 to target serious repeat offending, but more changes are needed. Our Premier has acknowledged that with honesty and dignity and without hubris, without arrogance and without derision, unlike the other side. It is unattractive, really. There are a range of issues that are emerging that we are responding to after a period of research and consultation, and I am going to speak on those issues.

The current system, based on the numbers that I just quoted, is not tough enough and does not set strong enough boundaries for young people – which, by the way, I did talk about in 2023, that young people need boundaries, no matter their circumstances – and it does not reflect the expectations of victims or the public, so reoffending remains a serious problem. Males in their mid to late teens make up the most alleged aggravated burglary offenders by far, with 64 per cent under the age of 20. I know some would say that some people never grow up, but we do know scientifically that young people’s brains are still developing right through to the age of 25, so mid to late teens are still developing and clear messages need to be sent to these young people, and that is what this bill is going to do.

The tough bail laws, again, squarely target the risks from these younger serious offenders. The government will make sweeping changes to reduce the risk of someone on bail reoffending in the community. The tough bail bill that has been introduced is the first of a tranche of reforms that will see Victoria having the toughest bail laws in Australia, and that is a fact. This bill will put community safety above every other consideration in every decision on bail. It will toughen the bail tests for serious offences.

There are a number of other things it does. It provides clarity to the judiciary, and it accounts for what we can see is happening amongst children. The remand of a child is currently the last resort, and that will be removed with this bill. There is some perception that this has been misinterpreted or not implemented in the way that Parliament originally intended. Targeting high-harm offences is what is going to increase our community safety and get these young people off our streets, which will increase safety, as I said. This bill brings back the offence of committing an indictable offence while on bail, which is very important in the circumstances that we see today.

There will also be a statutory review of the two bills, to be completed in a couple of years time, so there is a built-in assessment of whether or not they have been effective. That is an important thing, because circumstances change and crime statistics ebb and flow – we see them go up and we see them go down – and the profile of the population of young people committing offences also changes. But what is important for today at this point in history is that this will ensure that there are consequences for breaking the rules when on bail. This is just the first of our reforms to bail laws, with more changes to come in the middle of the year. We are bringing this bill today to deliver on our commitment to act with urgency to ensure Victorians feel safe and are safe in their homes, on the roads and out in their community. We will ensure that our system responds to the risks posed by repeat offending, and we will ensure that the system reflects the expectations of Victorians. With this bill we are putting community safety as a paramount consideration in bail decisions, and we are removing the principle of remand as a last resort.

We are bringing in new bail offences to ensure respect for the rules. We are applying a strict test – as strict as possible – for getting bail for the worst offences. Those worst offences are armed robbery, aggravated burglary, home invasions and carjacking involving the use of force. People charged with these offences must show exceptional circumstances to get bail. That is an extremely strict test.

We are also introducing a presumption against bail for a range of high-risk offences on their first offence. That will apply to serious firearms offences; serious arson; aggravated home invasion; burglary; carjacking; committing an offence involving a controlled weapon, including machetes; theft of a vehicle involving conduct endangering life; conduct endangering persons; failure to stop; and possession of a prohibited or controlled weapon.

So, contrary to what has already been already stated, this is definitely a tightening up of the bail provisions in this state, and it responds to changing trends in crime data specifically. I commend the bill to the house.

Georgie PURCELL (Northern Victoria) (19:02): I rise to speak in opposition to this bill today, and I do so with deep concern that we are going back to a system that was a failure and a system that was very, very harmful. The government claims that if this bill is passed, it will mean Victoria will have the toughest bail laws in Australia, and this is said in celebration. But it is my view that it is something to be deeply ashamed of.

The government says that this is about putting community safety above all, but I think that if we had any interest in putting community safety above all, we would be doing things that properly address the root causes of crime, such as investing properly in systemic issues that result in crime and reoffending, such as housing, accessibility to education, mental health services, family violence services, Aboriginal-led community programs and employment.

I should say as well, as a woman that has spoken very extensively about my concerns in relation to gender-based violence, that sexual offences and family violence offences are not included in this reform despite a lot of reoffending while on bail. The government is now classifying carjacking as a schedule 1 offence under this bill, meaning that it is actually considered more high risk for bail than a charge such as rape or other sexual offences. It kind of exposes how many of us feel, that women are of little value in this state and that, according to this bill, cars are valued more highly than our very own safety. Much like many of my colleagues, as was discussed very vigorously in here last night, I share the same concern that, despite differing policy perspectives, this bill has been very rushed. The government sent it to us on a Monday night. They announced it the week before. We did not get to see the detail until Monday night. We did not get to see the detail until the very, very last minute, and it allowed us no time for proper consultation on and scrutiny of this bill.

To remove the last-resort principle for youth offenders to be remanded is simply unacceptable and flies in the faiths of longstanding evidence that imprisoning a child only further entrenches their isolation and disadvantage. This often actually leads to a life of crime, the thing that we are trying to avoid. This has obviously come about from a lot of headlines and commentary from influencers and from shock jocks, and it is incredibly disappointing that we are listening to the people who are reacting to this rather than the longstanding evidence that shows that this is not the solution. For the overused, misinformed tough-on-crime approach for young offenders to sway the political agenda shows nothing but disregard for the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

The true reality, despite what people may say throughout this debate, is that crime in Victoria has generally decreased over the last decade. According to the ABS, Victoria has one of the lowest rates of youth crime in the entire country.

Enver Erdogan interjected.

Georgie PURCELL: Thank you, Minister. Tyler Cawthray, who is an assistant professor of criminology and criminal justice at Bond University, has said:

… when factoring in population growth, the overall crime rate is still lower than it was in 2016.

It is just that we are now more visibly seeing these offences on our social media feeds, in news headlines and on the radio, and it is making us respond to it in a way that is simply irresponsible.

The government has said continuously throughout the past week that this bill is a result of listening to Victorians, but as others have covered off, it is clearly an attempt by this government to win back votes and to make the lives of vulnerable people in this state a political football, and the statements that have been thrown out have been, frankly, bigoted and incorrect and really appeasing of this right-wing agenda. All of the evidence has been put in front of them that this bill will not reduce crime, yet they continue to run with this rhetoric. None of us should be fooled that this will see a reduction in youth crime. In fact it will only increase the long-term impacts and cost taxpayers money for locking more children up. Victoria actually has the lowest incarceration rate in the entire country, and this is something that we should be incredibly proud of and continue to build upon by focusing on rehabilitation and reducing recidivism, which is exactly what this bill goes against.

It is an extension of legislation passed in this place late last night when we were all here and spoke about the impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, who will be racially profiled and will grow the rate of incarceration in these communities. Just yesterday we were on the steps of Parliament for a rally opposing these laws, where we learned that yesterday would have been the birthday of Veronica Nelson. I am sure everyone in this place has heard her story. She was an Aboriginal woman who died in custody in 2019 after being denied bail for allegedly shoplifting, a very, very low-level offence. Ms Nelson died as a result of the then Labor government’s tightening of bail laws in 2018, which was then somewhat addressed in reform last year. Now we find ourselves here again today going back to the status quo that was proven to simply not work. We are winding back reform, and we are returning to a system that puts our most marginalised and vulnerable communities under a very, very serious threat.

The statistics and the evidence show that First Nations people are more likely to be locked up than non-First Nations people for minor offences. This is a real example of the racism that exists every single day in this country. Nerita Waight of the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service says that locking people up should never be a measure of success. It is in fact an indication of failure, as evidenced by the National Agreement on Closing the Gap and the Victorian Aboriginal Justice Agreement. Elena Pappas of the Law and Advocacy Centre for Women says Australia is home to the most disproportionately incarcerated people in the world – that is, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. These proposals fly in the face of the significant work towards truth-telling and justice currently underway through the Yoorrook Justice Commission and ignore the recommendations of the recent parliamentary inquiry into Victoria’s criminal justice system.

If the Allan Labor government is truly committed to justice, they must take meaningful steps with adequate consultation that are not a kneejerk reaction, informed by the lived experience of both Aboriginal people and non-Aboriginal people to ensure that any changes to our bail laws do not perpetuate the very cycle that I have been speaking about of overincarceration and harm that disproportionately affect certain communities. The lives of adults and young people in this state should not be up for grabs as part of a 2026 election strategy. Nonviolent indictable offences will be captured, and they do not warrant incarceration, which comes with very, very serious risk of ongoing harm. We know that police always charge with indictable offences and that people will be remanded for crimes that they likely will not be committed on.

There are a number of recommendations that were endorsed by over 92 Aboriginal, social, family violence and legal organisations that I just want to run through quickly. They are do not amend bail laws for children or adults until a full statutory review can take place in 2026 that considers longitudinal data and assesses the systemic impact of Victoria’s bail laws; ensure any bail reforms align with Poccum’s law; immediately make further investment in therapeutic bail support options which will improve community safety; do not reinstate double uplift, to ensure people are not locked up on remand for offences unlikely to result in imprisonment; exclude nonviolent and summary offences from any legislative changes that further restrict access to bail; expand the jurisdiction of the Koori Court to hear bail applications; ensure any amendments to existing bail laws do not prevent children and young people from accessing therapeutic and rehabilitative supports within the community; adopt the caution model in the Youth Justice Act 2024 for adults as a mechanism to address alleged offending connected to poverty, mental health, disability and homelessness; and listen to and implement the recommendations of significant previous inquiries, including the Yoorrook for Justice report and the Commission for Children and Young People’s Always Was, Always Will Be Koori Children,Our Youth, Our Way, In Our Own Words and Out of Sight reports as a matter of urgency.

To address driving factors of reoffending, the government must effectively fund and invest in intensive bail supervision and support, including Aboriginal-led models to support alleged offenders to successfully fulfill their bail conditions and address the causes of their reoffending, and Aboriginal-led therapeutic and specialist family violence supports and services, including access to legal supports that are based within communities. I think it is really important that the Parliament and the government consider these recommendations before making such extreme, rushed and serious decisions that will impact the lives of so many vulnerable Victorians, including many, many children.

The reality is that bail saves lives. I will not for a second deny that there is a fear in the community right now that needs to be addressed, but this is not the solution. This is not the answer. We are going back to a system that has been proven to fail. On that note, I will not be supporting the bill before us today.

Lee TARLAMIS (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (19:14): I move:

That debate on this bill be adjourned until the next day of meeting.

Motion agreed to and debate adjourned until next day of meeting.