State passes ‘toughest bail laws in the world’ in tense parliament sitting

A major state has approved a landmark overhaul as part of a crackdown on crime, with MPs debating well past midnight.

Victorian parliament has approved a landmark overhaul, with MPs battling it out past midnight to put the “tough new bail laws” in place as part of the state’s crackdown on crime.

The marathon sitting stretched 15 hours, with MPs unanimously agreeing to stay sitting until the bail laws passed.

Last month, Premier Jacinta Allan proposed an overhaul of the bail laws following rising pressure in the community, rising crime rates and repeat youth offenders.

But she faced objections from both the Greens and the Coalition, who argued the proposals were “weak” and failed to recognise the impact they could have on the Indigenous community.

Premier Jacinta Allen has legislated ‘tough’ new bail laws. Picture: NewsWire / Aaron Francis Picture: NewsWire / Aaron Francis

The opposition won its bid to remove the word “tough bail” from the Bill overhaul after claiming it was not strong enough against offenders and was being used as a political slogan.

However, soon after midnight, Premier Jacinta Allan shared a clip on X (formerly Twitter) confirming the passing of the “toughest bail laws in the world”.

“We’ve just passed tough new bail laws, the toughest in the country,” she said. “And these laws have consequences for people who break the rules, putting community safety first.”

Two of the upgraded laws that will come into effect immediately include “committing an indictable offence while on bail” and “breach of bail conditions”, which will be punishable by up to three months imprisonment in addition to any other sentence handed down to the offender.

Those who breach bail laws will also be taken to the court directly by police, rather than waiting for “bail justice”.

Crimes such as aggravated burglary, home invasion, carjacking and armed robberies will be elevated to more serious crimes “so bail is less likely even on the first charge”.

These changes will not be immediately implemented, instead will be put in place over the next three months.

Last year was one of the worst for Victorian crime. Picture: NewsWire / Diego Fedele

Newly released Victorian crime rate statistics show a 13.2 per cent rise in crime on last year, the worst it has been since 2016.

Crime Statistics Agency data shows crimes committed by youth offenders aged 10-17 are at the highest rate since electronic records began in 1993.

Offences caused by youths aged 18-24 also increased 14.7 per cent over the last year, with more than 27,000 incidents reported to Victoria Police.

The report also found the most common and fastest-growing crime was car-related theft, including stealing number plates, power tools and other things from vehicles.

Two of the top five crimes also include retail theft and family violence order breaches, which has experienced an all-time record increase of 11.3 per cent.

The bail laws overhaul comes a week after the Allan government announced it passed a ban on machetes, with the laws coming into effect in September.

The new bail laws will elevate crimes including carjacking and aggravated burglary as more serious crimes. Picture: NewsWire/ David Crosling

Ms Allan said the new bail laws were some of the toughest in the world.

“I have listened to victims of crime and Victorians, and I have acted,” Ms Allan said in a statement.

“These are the toughest bail laws in the country – putting community safety above all and delivering consequences for those who break the law.

“These laws send the strongest possible message to offenders – clean your act up or face the consequences.”

However, the opposition say the changes fail to meet the expectations of the community, with shadow attorney-general Michael O’Brien arguing the changes were “weak” and failed to restore the bail laws to what they once were.

“Weak – because they don’t even restore Victoria’s bail laws to what they were one year ago,” he wrote on X.

“So weak that the parliament removed the words ‘Tough Bail‘ from the statute – because they were a lie.”

Deputy leader of the opposition Evan Mulholland agreed and suggested on X the “laws still leave our bail laws weaker than they were when Jacinta Allan weakened them last year”.