The Victorian government is set to implement alterations to bail laws less than a year after they were changed in the wake of a concerted campaign by conservative media and the police.

It is understood the new changes will target serious offending, including home invasion and carjacking, as well as machetes, after concerns were raised following several alleged violent home invasions which were carried out by youths on bail.

They will treat children like adults in serious cases, in what the government has called the toughest in the country. Remanding youth offenders in custody will no longer be a last resort for judges and magistrates. Rather, community safety will now become the "overarching principle" when deciding if children and adults can get bail.

On Tuesday afternoon, the cabinet resolved to finalise changes to the bail laws, which experts have long argued will exacerbate the number of First Nations people spending more time behind bars on remand.

"Our tough bail laws will jolt the system – putting community safety above all, creating the toughest bail laws ever, and ensuring bail rules are respected," Premier Jacinta Allan said.

It will become a separate crime to commit an indictable offence while on bail, scrapped last year in a raft of changes, and for people who commit serious and violent crimes on bail repeatedly, a new test would be created where a judge or magistrate must be satisfied to a high degree of probability they won't reoffend.

Similar laws in NSW have seen a significant increase in the number of people denied bail and have been condemned by Indigenous organisations and legal groups.

Bail changes were implemented less than 12 months ago after almost five years of campaigning by Veronica Nelson's family.

The 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 Coroner Simon McGregor describe the then-bail laws as an "unmitigated disaster". He said they discriminated against Aboriginal people, were incompatible with Victoria's Human Rights Charter, and should be changed urgently.

They had also led to a dramatic increase in the number of Indigenous people and women being held on remand.

Despite this, Premier Allan last week 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."

The Herald Sun has led a campaign to have the bail laws strengthened, even going as far as to call for readers to sign a petition.

However, not all agree.

One lawyer, speaking on condition of anonymity, told National Indigenous Times the campaign to change the laws failed to consider the relatively small number of children and young people being caught up in crime, rather than an overarching group.

They said the conservative media campaign had led to a moral panic, arguing the bail laws were about to be flipped on its head without having even been tested.

Another barrister simply said: "How shameful."

Writing on X (formerly Twitter), the former president of Liberty Victoria, Michael Stanton, said: "The duplicity of this Government fronting Yoorrook and now desperately introducing these draconian bail reforms is just breathtaking.

"Including removing the principle of detention being a last resort for children? This will result in deaths in custody. It's a disgrace."

In reply, Ali Besiroglu, the head of legal services at the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS) said: "300 kids, that's it. Overhaul the entirety of the bail system for 300 children (with 25 kids being responsible for a quarter of those offences). Unbelievable!"

Mr Besiroglu had also responded to the Herald Sun's campaign to change the laws, writing: "Unbiased journalism out the window."

Last year multiple Ministers, as well as the Premier, faced the truth-telling commission, expressing deep regret at the way First Nations people had been treated and listened to in the state.

Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People in Victoria, Meena Singh, told ABC Radio she does not believe the laws need to be tightened.

"I don't think it's good policy to change laws based on one highly promoted incident," Ms Singh said.

"[Young people] get caught up in these bail laws because they don't take into account the specific vulnerabilities of children and young children.

"If we're bailing children to the exact same scenario and the exact same issues that they were dealing with before they offended, we're not going to see different outcomes."

National Indigenous Times revealed on Tuesday, former Police Commissioner Shane Patton believed the old bail laws contributed to Ms Nelson being incarcerated, where she ultimately passed away.

Nonetheless, it was reported he campaigned to have them strengthened again.

When the bail laws were finally changed last year, after years of advocacy from the Nelson family, 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 remanded since the laws changed, which VALS said was evidence of their effectiveness.