The New South Wales Bar Association has criticised the NSW government's "rushed bail reforms", which were introduced into the NSW Parliament Tuesday "without prior consultation".
NSW Bar Association president, Dr Ruth Higgins SC, said the proposed additional bail test in the Bail and Crimes Amendment Bill 2024 is inconsistent with evidence that supporting, rather than detaining, young people is more effective at reducing reoffending.
"The Association is gravely concerned at the introduction of legislation that will result in greater incarceration rates of vulnerable children, which risks normalising criminal associations, undermining development, and producing more reoffending," she said.
"The legislation introduces a novel test - 'a high degree of confidence' - that does not appear in any other legislation in New South Wales. The result will be that children are treated in a way that is harsher and more onerous than the treatment of adults.
"Of still greater concern is the likely disproportionate impact upon the incarceration rates of Aboriginal children in New South Wales. This will undermine the New South Wales Government's ability to reach Closing the Gap targets. According to the New South Wales Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, the number of Aboriginal young people on remand increased by over 84 per cent from September 2021 to September 2023."
Several justice, Indigenous, human rights and health organisations have warned that the proposed bail changes will make communities less safe and put more children in prison.
Dr Higgins said that while the allocation of $26.2 million for various programs to prevent crime and support young people is to be welcomed, the majority of this funding will only benefit Moree, while the proposed legislative reforms will apply state-wide.
"In attempting to respond to community concerns about juvenile crime in regional New South Wales, the Government has produced a precipitous policy that risks undermining the valuable youth programs that it is funding," Dr Higgins said.
The Bail and Crimes Amendment Bill 2024 is proposing to amend the Bail Act 2013 (NSW) to include an additional bail test for young people between 14 and 18 charged with committing certain serious break and enter offences or motor vehicle theft offences, while on bail for the same offences.
Under the proposed section 22C, a bail authority must have "a high degree of confidence" that the young person will not commit a further serious indictable offence while on bail. The Bill also proposes to insert a new offence into the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), which imposes an additional penalty of two years' imprisonment in circumstances where people commit certain offences and share material to advertise their involvement in the criminal behaviour.
