Bail (Conditions) Amendment Bill

Introduction and First Reading

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (15:25): Obtained leave and introduced a bill for an act to amend the Bail Act 1985. Read a first time.

Second Reading

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Aboriginal Affairs, Attorney-General, Minister for Industrial Relations and Public Sector) (15:26): I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

Today, I introduce the Bail (Conditions) Amendment Bill 2023. This bill will require high-risk domestic violence defendants who are not on remand to be electronically monitored on home detention bail. The bill progresses a key election commitment made by the government as part of our women's safety, equality and wellbeing policy. I have worked closely with the Minister for Women and the Prevention of Domestic and Family Violence, the Hon. Katrine Hildyard, in developing this bill, and I am pleased to present it to the council today.

The bill amends the Bail Act 1985 to introduce mandatory bail conditions for a person charged with an offence against section 31(2aa)(b) of the Intervention Orders (Prevention of Abuse) Act 2009, which is an offence of contravening an intervention order where the breach involved violence or a threat of violence. The mandatory bail conditions will apply if the alleged breach was of a domestic abuse related intervention order.

Persons charged with this offence in the domestic violence context pose a significant risk to their victims. Because the charged person is under an intervention order related to domestic abuse, they have already been shown to potentially be at risk of subjecting the victim to abuse. A charge of a violent breach means there is reasonable cause to suspect that unmonitored restrictions alone are not a sufficient deterrent and that the victim is at a continued high level of risk.

Stringent protections are required to ensure the safety of these victims. Therefore, the government considers that persons charged with violently breaching a domestic abuse related intervention order should face very stringent bail conditions, if they are released on bail at all. Notably, defendants charged with violent intervention order breaches are already prescribed applicants under the Bail Act, meaning they face a presumption against bail and can only be released on bail if they demonstrate special circumstances.

This bill will provide an extra layer of protection by providing that, if special circumstances are established and bail is granted, the relevant bail agreement must include home detention and electronic monitoring conditions. This is a further level of protection for victim survivors of domestic abuse against their abusers.

Under home detention conditions, the defendant will be forbidden from leaving their home other than for specific purposes such as work or medical care. They will be fitted with an electronic monitoring device to track their compliance with home detention in real time, and to alert authorities if they are not at home when they are supposed to be.

Importantly, conditions in their bail agreement or intervention order for the protection of the victim, such as conditions that they not approach the victim's residence or place of work, can also be programmed into the device and compliance monitored in real time. This will act as a strong deterrent against breaches, as the defendant knows their whereabouts are visible to authorities at all times. When breaches do occur, the monitoring enables swifter action as the authorities are alerted in real time. If the defendant is charged with a breach, the monitoring data may also be used as evidence assisting prosecutions to prove the breach.

Mandatory home detention bail is not novel under the Bail Act. Serious and organised crime suspects on bail are subject to such mandatory home detention conditions in order to protect witnesses who have reasonable fears for their safety. It is the view of the government that protected persons alleging violent breaches of domestic abuse-related intervention orders have just as reasonable a basis to fear for their safety, and they should have the benefit of the same protections.

I am proud to introduce this bill today as one further initiative of the many things the government has done and continues to do in the space of domestic violence prevention. It is the intention that this change will provide greater physical protection and peace of mind to victim survivors as they navigate some of the most difficult and dangerous times of their lives. I commend the bill to the chamber and seek leave to insert the explanation of clauses in Hansard without my reading it.

Leave granted.

Explanation of Clauses

Part 1—Preliminary

1—Short title

2—Commencement

These clauses are formal.

Part 2—Amendment of Bail Act 1985

3—Amendment of section 11—Conditions of bail

A grant of bail to an applicant who has been charged with an offence against section 31(2aa)(b) of the Intervention Orders (Prevention of Abuse) Act 2009 in respect of an order that is a recognised DVO within the meaning of section 29D of that Act must be subject to electronic monitoring conditions (unless the applicant is a child).

Schedule 1—Transitional provision

1—Transitional provision

This clarifies that the amendment will only apply to offences that are allegedly committed after commencement of the measure.

Debate adjourned on motion of Hon. B.R. Hood.