Bail reform fails to meet family calls and Coroner’s recommendations
The Allan Government’s new bail laws will not meet minimum human rights standards and will mean people, including children and young people, are still needlessly funnelled into prisons, according to the Human Rights Law Centre.
Despite some positive changes, the amendments to the Bail Act passed this afternoon fall short of the calls from the family of Veronica Marie Nelson, a strong Gunditjmara, Dja Dja Wurrung, Wiradjuri and Yorta Yorta woman who passed away in custody. The family have consistently called for the Government to:
Remove the presumption against bail.
Grant access to bail unless the prosecution shows that there is a specific and immediate risk to the safety of another person; a serious risk of interfering with a witness; or a demonstrable risk that the person will flee the jurisdiction.
Explicitly require that a person must not be remanded for an offence that is unlikely to result in a sentence of imprisonment.
Remove all bail offences.
The family, supported by 74 organisations in the legal, human rights and health sectors called for the Victorian Government to implement these wholesale reforms in full in the next 3 months and for these reforms to be referred to as Poccum’s Law*.
In January 2023, the Coronial Inquest into Veronica Nelson’s passing labelled the bail laws ‘a complete and unmitigated disaster’. Coroner McGregor found that the bail laws discriminate against Aboriginal people, are incompatible with Victoria’s Human Rights Charter, and should be changed urgently.
Reverse onus provisions will remain, as will the offence of ‘failing to answer bail’, which pushes people further into the criminal legal system. People who are unlikely to be sentenced to imprisonment will continue to wait for a court hearing behind bars.
Positive changes to the bail laws, such as additional court considerations for Aboriginal people applying for bail, the removal of two harmful bail offences, and a statutory review of the legislation in two years' time, are due to the family’s strong advocacy to ensure that what happened to Veronica never happens again.
Quotes attributable to Amala Ramarathinam, Acting Managing Lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre:
“Victoria’s new bail laws do not meet the calls of Veronica Nelson’s family to implement Poccum’s Law or the coronial recommendations from Veronica’s Inquest. The changes don’t go far enough to stop the Allan Government from inflicting preventable harm on people, especially Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and women experiencing disadvantage, or to prevent a death in custody. The changes have also left children and young people behind.”
“Victoria’s bail laws will continue to fail to meet minimum human rights standards under the Victorian Charter. To get bail reform right, the Allan Government must deliver further changes to properly implement Poccum’s Law. This includes scrapping the reverse onus provisions, creating a presumption in favour of bail, explicitly requiring that a person must not be locked up if they’re unlikely to receive a sentence of imprisonment, and removing the offence of failing to answer bail. The promised reforms to bail laws for children and young people must also be delivered early next year.
“The family of Veronica Nelson have led the calls for fair bail laws with tremendous strength and their voices must be listened to.”
*“Poccum” was the nickname Veronica received from her family; as a child they took Veronica out to see a possum in the tree, and she would pronounce possum as ‘poccum’.
Contact:
Michelle Bennett, Engagement Director, 0419 100 519, michelle.bennett@hrlc.org.au