Bail laws toughened for terror suspects by NSW Government

THE NSW government plans to make it harder for people with links to terrorism to get bail.

Premier Mike Baird.

THE NSW government plans to make it harder for people with links to terrorism to get bail.

New bail laws will be introduced into state parliament on Tuesday, Attorney General Gabrielle Upton said.

“We’ve witnessed the brutal and senseless destruction terrorism has caused, and we will do what it takes to protect the community against any identified risks,” Ms Upton said in a statement.

“The changes will make it extremely difficult for people to get bail if they are already facing or have been convicted of a terrorism offence, or are subject to a terrorism control order,” Ms Upton said.

The legislation, which will be introduced on Tuesday, implements amendments recommended by a joint Commonwealth and NSW review into the Martin Place siege.

It also includes recommendations from a bail law review conducted by former NSW attorney general John Hatzistergos, which was carried out before the deadly siege in September last year, and another report by the NSW Sentencing Council, which advises the attorney general’s department.

Ms Upton said the bail laws will be “strengthened at every level”.

Under the proposed changes, courts will take into account an accused person’s links with terrorist organisations, as well as any statements or actions they have made in support of terrorist acts or violent extremism.
 
The legislation builds on the bail laws the NSW government introduced in January that included the `show cause’ test, which puts the onus on people charged with the most serious offences to justify why they should be given bail.