Victorian Premier Jacinta Allen flags 'toughest bail laws in Australia' to crackdown on crime
The “toughest bail laws in Australia” will be implemented after a spate of crime left a state government under pressure to act.
Victoria’s Premier Jacinta Allan has flagged the state’s bail laws will be reformed amid mounting community anger about rising crime, including aggravated burglaries and car thefts.
“We’re introducing the toughest bail laws in Australia to keep Victorians safe,” she said on X on Wednesday.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.Cabinet ministers met on Tuesday to discuss raising the threshold for granting bail for serious crimes.
The premier said that the reforms would prioritise community safety in bail decisions.
“They include a new bail test that is extremely hard to pass - targeting repeat offenders of the worst crimes,” she said.
“They will restore respect for bail - with consequences for breaking the rules.”
Ms Allan initiated a law review in early 2025, led by Attorney-General Sonya Kilkenny and Police Minister Anthony Carbines.
Victoria tightened bail laws in 2018 after James Gargasoulas drove into Melbourne’s busy Bourke Street Mall in 2017 while on bail, killing six people and injuring dozens more.
The changes were found to be a “complete and unmitigated disaster” in a coronial inquest into Indigenous woman Veronica Nelson’s 2020 death in her cell after she was refused bail on a charge of breaching bail and suspicion of shoplifting.
Laws were subsequently enacted in March 2024 to make it easier for low-level offenders to get bail, with the offences of committing an indictable offence whilst on bail and breaching a condition of bail abolished.
