By James Stevens, Director and Solicitor, Go To Court Lawyers. Last reviewed 15 April 2026.
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The Victorian Bail Act 1977 underwent significant amendments that took effect on 26 March 2025. The changes included the introduction of community safety as the overarching principle in bail decisions and the abolition of the principle that remand is a last resort for a young person. This page outlines the recent changes to the Bail Act 1977 and the Victorian bail system as it now stands.
Guiding principles
The Bail Act 1977 now contains a section 1B. This section contains the guiding principles that apply when decisions about bail are made.
The overarching consideration under this provision is community safety. Other principles to be considered are the presumption of innocence, the right to liberty, and the promotion of fairness, transparency and consistency in bail decision-making.
This change means that bail decision makers must now give more weight to the need to maximise community safety than they did previously.
Children and bail
Under the 2025 changes, section 3B of the Bail Act 1977 was amended to remove the principle that remand is a last resort when making a decision about bail in relation to a child.
This represents a very significant change to Victoria’s youth bail system.
Decisions previously had to prioritise keeping a young person living in the community wherever possible. In contrast, remand is now no longer required to be treated as a ‘last resort’ and decision-makers therefore have greater discretion and must weigh community safety more heavily.
New offence
The 2025 changes reintroduced a criminal offence consisting of committing an indictable offence while on bail.
This offence is contained in section 30B of the Bail Act 1977 and carries a maximum penalty of imprisonment for three months or a fine of 30 penalty units. The offence applies to alleged offending that occurs on or after 26 March 2025; transitional provisions govern earlier matters.
The reintroduction of this offence means that when a person commits an indictable offence whilst on bail, as well as facing the consequences of a breach of bail and criminal proceedings in relation to the new offence, they may also be charged with an offence under section 30B.
The ‘unacceptable risk’ test
When any person applies for bail in Victoria, the decision maker must consider whether their release would pose an unacceptable risk.
If there is an unacceptable risk that the person would endanger the safety of others, commit further offences while on bail, interfere with witnesses, obstruct justice or fail to comply with any conditions of their bail, the bail decision maker must refuse bail.
Following the 2025 changes, the unacceptable risk framework remains, but how decision-makers weigh factors under that test is influenced by the new guiding principles, of which community safety is paramount.
Surrounding circumstances
A bail decision maker must take into account the surrounding circumstances of the matter when deciding whether to grant an accused bail or not. The factors that should be taken into consideration are set out in section 3AAA of the Bail Act, and include:
- the nature of and seriousness of the offence;
- the strength of the prosecution case;
- the criminal history of the accused person;
- whether the accused person has previously complied, or not complied, with an earlier grant of bail;
- whether the person is a family violence risk.
The two-step tests
Under the Bail Act, there are two distinct two-step processes for deciding whether an accused should be granted bail. Which of the two-step processes applies depends on the charge/s the accused is facing and their prior criminal history and antecedents.
The two-step tests are ‘the exceptional circumstances test’ and the ‘show compelling reason test’. Both involve a second step where the court must consider whether the accused poses an unacceptable risk (as discussed above).
Under the 2025 changes, additional offences have been added to the lists of offences for which ‘the exceptional circumstances test’ and the ‘show compelling reason test’. The offences that always trigger the exceptional circumstances test are set out in Schedule 1. Schedule 2 sets out a list of offences that may also trigger that test, depending on the accused’s circumstances, and which otherwise trigger the ‘show compelling reasons’ test.
Exceptional circumstances test
Under the exceptional circumstances test, the bail decision maker must refuse bail unless satisfied that exceptional circumstances exist that justify the grant of bail.
The exceptional circumstances test will most commonly apply when:
- a person is accused of committing a Schedule 1 offence (including treason, murder, aggravated home invasion and serious drug offences); or
- a person charged with a Schedule 2 offence (including manslaughter, causing serious injury and serious sexual offences) and that person has a terrorism record or there is a risk that the person will commit a terrorism offence; or
- an accused person was already on bail for, awaiting trial for or required to answer a summons for a Schedule 1 or Schedule 2 offence.
A person seeking bail where the exceptional circumstances test applies bears the burden of proving that exceptional circumstances exist that justify the grant of bail.
Show compelling reason test
The ‘show compelling reason’ test requires a bail decision maker to refuse bail unless satisfied that a compelling reason exists that justifies the grant of bail.
The ‘show compelling reason’ test applies where:
- a person is accused of committing a Schedule 2 offence; or
- a person is charged with an offence that may not appear in Schedule 1 or Schedule 2, but that person has a terrorism record or there is a risk that the person will commit a terrorism offence.
- A person accused of any of these offences bears the burden of proving that a compelling reason exists for bail to be granted.
Under the 2025 changes, additional offences have been added to the list of offences in Schedule 2 of the Bail Act.
Conclusion
The 2025 changes to the Bail Act 1977 represent a significant tightening of Victoria’s bail laws.
The changes include the expansion of the categories of offending that trigger the ‘show compelling reason’ and the ‘exceptional circumstances’ tests, as well as the removal of the principle that remand of a child is a last resort.
The changes have occurred at a time when many states and territories are passing changes to make it more difficult for an accused person to get bail in response to public pressure to improve community safety.
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