Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the name and image of Indigenous people who have died.

Less than one year after new bail laws came into effect in Victoria, the Premier has outlined they will be changed.

The laws, introduced in March last year after a long fight by advocates in the aftermath of the death of Indigenous woman Veronica Nelson in 2020, partly wound back the 2018 changes introduced in response to the Bourke Street attack and which saw the number of Aboriginal women in custody nearly double within a year.

Despite legal experts and Indigenous organisations calling for them, less than a year on from their implementation, Premier Jacinta Allan has responded to criticism from the police, certain media outlets and the Opposition by announcing the laws will likely be significantly strengthened.

On Wednesday, she said the current bail laws were failing Victorians, describing several highly-publicised alleged criminal acts as "completely unacceptable".

"I understand that the current laws, the current settings, are not working," she told reporters outside of Parliament.

"It's why the laws need to be changed and they will."

Data for the last year to September 30 revealed crime by children in Victoria was at its highest level in 15 years, up 17 per cent in the previous 12 months. Domestic violence offences were also at an all-time high in September last year, up 10.4 per cent.

Overall, the rate of criminal incidents per capita is still lower than in 2020 and 2016, however police sources have called for stronger penalties to prevent repeated offences by people on bail.

Last month, the police minister said "everything is on the table" concerning community safety after the proposed changes created a backlash from Indigenous organisations who labelled them haphazard and coming because of political pressure.

Veronica Nelson's mother, Donna, was highly critical of the changes, arguing the then-Chief Commissioner and Attorney General "looked me in my eyes and promised to make bail conditions better, because of what Veronica and my family suffered".

"These positive reforms were only achieved because I lost my daughter due to the harsh and discriminatory bail laws that existed at the time,' she said last month.

Despite a review and overhaul less than two years ago, the Premier said a review was needed, arguing it is unacceptable "too many working families, too many women and children, don't feel safe".

On Wednesday, she said the process would likely take three months, refusing to be drawn into suggestions they could be brought forward.

"This is urgent work. It's happening right now," she said.

"As soon as that work is completed, we will provide information to the Victorian community about how these laws will change."

She refused to rule out mandatory sentencing for home invasions, and when asked if the decision to change the laws last year was wrong, the Premier said: "It is clear that there were changes that had been made that we need to address."

Ms Nelson, a Gunditjmara, Dja Dja Wurrung, Wiradjuri, and Yorta Yorta woman, died in custody in 2020 in a "vomit ridden" prison cell from a rare gastrointestinal condition – known as Wilkie's syndrome - along with malnutrition and opiate withdrawal.

An inquest into her death heard the then-bail laws described by Coroner Simon McGregor as an "unmitigated disaster" and argued they discriminated against Aboriginal people, were incompatible with Victoria's Human Rights Charter, and should be changed urgently.

When they were finally changed last year, after years of advocacy from the Nelson family, Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS) chief executive Nerita Waight said they would reduce the number of Indigenous people on remand.

"These laws bring us one step closer to ensuring that what happened to Veronica never happens again," she said.

Data showed fewer Aboriginal people were being kept on remand since the laws changed, which VALS said was evidence of their effectiveness.

Ms Waight has been highly critical of conservative media outlets and the Victorian Police for fearmongering around youth crime, and last month said the government should invest in other reforms - citing the Yoorrook Justice Commission report into justice - rather than "pandering" to those groups.

"Aboriginal-led programs that keep our people safe through early intervention, prevention and diversion programs must also be prioritised if 'community safety' is to be achieved," she said.