Bail Amendment Act 2025
No. 8 of 2025
TABLE OF PROVISIONS
Section Page
Part 1—Preliminary
1Purposes
2Commencement
3Principal Act
Part 2—Amendment of Bail Act 1977
4Guiding principles—community safety
5Determination in relation to a child
6Arrest of person released on bail
7Section 30A repealed
8New section 30B inserted
9Review of certain amendments
10Transitional provisions
11Schedule 1 amended
12Schedule 2 amended
13Schedule 3 amended
Part 3—Amendment of Summary Offences Act 1966
14New section 49F inserted
15Power to serve infringement notice
Part 4—Amendment of other Acts
16Fisheries Act 1995
17Youth Justice Act 2024
Part 5—Repeal of this Act
18Repeal of this Act
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Endnotes
1 General information
Bail Amendment Act 2025
No. 8 of 2025
[Assented to 25 March 2025]
The Parliament of Victoria enacts:
PART 1—PRELIMINARY
1Purposes
The purposes of this Act are—
(a)to amend the Bail Act 1977—
(i)to clarify that Act's guiding principle relating to maximising community safety; and
(ii)to clarify how a bail decision maker must take into account the need to impose on a child the minimum intervention required in the circumstances; and
(iii)to provide that a person who is arrested while on bail may, in certain circumstances, be brought before a court rather than a bail justice; and
(iv)to replace the offence of committing a Schedule 1 offence or a Schedule 2 offence while on bail with an offence of committing an indictable offence while on bail; and
(v)to provide that the operation of the amendments made by this Act are to be part of the subject of the review for which section 32C of the Bail Act 1977 provides; and
(vi)to provide for certain Schedule 2 offences to instead be Schedule 1 offences; and
(vii)to provide for additional offences to be Schedule 2 offences; and
(b)to amend the Summary Offences Act 1966 to provide that it is to be an offence to contravene a conduct condition while on bail; and
(c)to make consequential amendments to the Fisheries Act 1995 and the Youth Justice Act 2024.
2Commencement
(1)Subject to subsection (2), this Act comes into operation on a day or days to be proclaimed.
(2)If a provision of this Act does not come into operation before 29 September 2025, it comes into operation on that day.
3Principal Act
In this Act the Bail Act 1977 is called the Principal Act.
PART 2—AMENDMENT OF BAIL ACT 1977
4Guiding principles—community safety
(1)After the heading to section 1B of the Principal Act insert—
"(1AA)The Parliament recognises the overarching importance of maximising, to the greatest extent possible, the safety of the community and persons affected by crime.".
(2)In section 1B(1) of the Principal Act, for "The Parliament recognises" substitute "The Parliament also recognises".
(3)Section 1B(1)(a) of the Principal Act is repealed.
(4)In section 1B(2) of the Principal Act, for "subsection (1)." substitute "subsections (1AA) and (1)."
5Determination in relation to a child
In section 3B(1)(b) of the Principal Act, for "circumstances, with the remand of the child being a last resort;" substitute