The Victorian government has ignored expert advice and is pursuing a "colonial agenda" in introducing stricter bail laws, the peak Indigenous legal organisation in the state says.

The overhaul of Victoria's bail system means remanding youth offenders in custody will no longer be a last resort, with community safety now becoming the "overarching principle" when deciding on bail for both children and adults.

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.

The Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS) said the "rushed measures" would lead to more Indigenous people - especially women and children who are experiencing poverty, family violence and mental illness - being "unnecessarily locked up".

"The impact on our Aboriginal communities will be profound and devastating. As we saw after the disastrous bail changes in 2018, today's announcement will see the majority of people in Victoria's prisons sitting unsentenced, and there is once again a risk that many people will be detained for offences that will not lead to a prison sentence even if they are convicted," a VALS spokesperson said.

On Wednesday, the government hailed the "toughest bail laws in Australia", with Premier Jacinta Allan arguing the changing of bail laws in late 2023, after years of advocacy from the family of Indigenous woman Veronica Nelson, had been a mistake.

"So, in terms of the 2023 changes I do acknowledge, we got it wrong and I'm standing here as the premier today having listened to the Victorian community. It's clear to me, it's clear to everyone in the Victorian community but the current laws do not reflect community expectations," she said.

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. She had been arrested and denied bail for alleged shoplifting.

An inquest into her death heard Coroner Simon McGregor describe the then-bail laws as an "unmitigated disaster".

When the bail law changes were first flagged last month, Veronica's mother, Aunty Donna Nelson, said: "The Chief Commissioner and the Attorney General at the time looked me in my eyes and promised to make bail conditions better, because of what Veronica and my family suffered."

"Where are those promises now?"

VALS said the new changes would do nothing to improve community safety - mirroring the comments of other experts - and would only push more disadvantaged people into prison and the likelihood of recidivism.

"This government doesn't learn from their mistakes, rather they go out of their way to repeat them," chief executive Nerita Waight said.

The Premier said the new laws "will see more people on remand," and expects them to pass Parliament next week "should the parliament choose to act with the same urgency that the government have, and that the community are demanding".

In response, Ms Waight said: "You start to wonder after failed policy after failed policy is it really mistake or rather an active decision to pursue the colonial agenda, to lock our people up, to hold those at the mercy of the system responsible for their own failures to invest in adequate diversion and alternative pathways."

"It is shameful that the Victorian government is looking to NSW and Queensland for what should be implemented, when their success markers are simply how many people are being held on remand rather than addressing the driving factors of offending," she said.

Bail laws in NSW - championed by the premier - have resulted in the number of Indigenous children on remand skyrocketing. These laws will encompass what NSW has implemented but for adults as well.

VALS said they will inquire about financial support to "mitigate the harms this government is so determined to inflict", arguing the best way to implement change is with wraparound services connected to bail, leading to lower recidivism rates.

"What changes criminal behaviour, and what makes communities and victims safe, is investment in the social determinants of crime like access to housing, employment, mental health, substance abuse and family violence services," they said.

"There needs to be adequate investment in diversion and alternative pathways."

There was also criticism of the media campaign around the law changes, which saw conservative radio hosts and newspapers often use extreme coverage to exacerbate the issue of youth crime, which experts say in reality is only a small cohort of youths.

The Herald Sun ran a concerted campaign to have the laws changed, which prompted the head of legal services at VALS, Ali Besiroglu, to write on social media: "Unbiased journalism out the window."

"These changes are designed to abate alarmist rhetoric driven by the media," a VALS spokesperson said.

"They are not aimed at providing the necessary supports to increase community safety."

Federal Senator and Gunnai, Gunditjmara and Djab Wurrung woman, Lidia Thorpe, condemned the announcement, calling it a "shameful kneejerk reaction".

"We need leaders to start standing up to the misinformation being peddled around these issues," she said.

"This is a weak capitulation by Allan to fearmongering from the Coalition and Murdoch media."