The bail reform billtabledin the Victorian parliament this week seeks to undo some of the worst parts of the Bail Act, which was condemned as a complete and unmitigated disaster in thecoronial inquestinto the passing of Gunditjmara, Dja Dja Wurrung, Wiradjuri and Yorta Yorta woman Veronica Nelson in 2020.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised this article contains the name and image of a deceased person.

The proposed bail changes have come about because of the tireless advocacy of Nelsons family.

However, the billdoesnt go far enoughto address the discriminatory effects of the current bail regime, nor fix the states remand crisis.

The disaster of Victorias bail laws

Bail is a process which allows people accused of crimes to remain in the community, with conditions, until their court matter is finalised. However, theprogressive hardening of Victorias bail lawsover the past decade has made bail much harder to obtain, giving rise to ballooning rates of people on remand (that is, in prison without having been convicted or sentenced).

Unsentenced people in Victoria now make up 42% of the total prison population, compared to only 18% a decade ago. The proportions are even higher among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and women. The number of unsentenced Indigenous women entering prison each year has grown by243% over the past decade.

The negative consequences of remand are significant and can include family separation, trauma, and cycles of homelessness, unemployment, and reincarceration.

The human cost of the states toughened bail regime was put in the spotlight by the cruel and preventabledeath of Veronica Nelsonat Dame Phyllis Frost Centre womens prison in January 2020. She had been arrested and refused bail for shoplifting related offences just three days earlier. Due to changes made to the Bail Act in 2018, she faced a presumption against being granted bail, and was refused bail for this reason.

Following the Coroners findings, Veronicas family and legal experts called for the implementation of Poccums Law, after the nickname for Veronica by her mother, Aunty Donna Nelson.

Poccums Law provides a best practice, evidence-based model for bail reform which would have prevented Veronicas death in custody.

However, the bail reform bill put forward by the government this week falls short of this call.

3 ways the bill falls short

There are three major aspects of the bill which legal and health experts say undermine real progress.

**1.**First, bail reforms wouldnt be implemented until six months after passing parliament. This would mean the changes would come into effect in early 2024, which is over four years after Veronica Nelsons passing, and over 12 months after the Coroner recommended urgent and sweeping reforms to the laws.

After the tragic Bourke Street incident in January 2017, Premier Daniel Andrews acted rapidly to implementchanges to bail lawsto create a presumption against bail for a large number of offences, including many minor offences. In doing so, heignored the advice of experts, who warned the changes would have devastating consequences for already disadvantaged people.

Theres no clear reason for the government to now delay implementation of laws which would curb Victorias inflated prison population and prevent the needless harm and suffering caused by large numbers of people cycling through prison unsentenced.

Disclosure statement

Emma Russell is a Visiting Scholar at the Centre for Crime Law and Justice at University of New South Wales. She is affiliated with Smart Justice for Women.Andreea Lachsz was the Head of Policy, Communications and Strategy at the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service during the Inquest into the passing of Veronica Nelson.Sarah Schwartz is the Principal Lawyer of the Wirraway Practice at the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service and acted in the Inquest into the passing of Veronica Nelson.

First published by THE CONVERSATION August 16, 2023