Tougher bail laws put courts under pressure
in November, Age reported that there were detention cells Below Melbourne Magistrates’ Court was full, and corrections officers had to pick people to stand trial from police stations and detention centers across the state.
A state government spokesman said an increase in bail activity was expected and the seven new judges appointed last month were part of the extra resources being provided to the courts to help them cope with the caseload.
A prison van leaves the Melbourne Detention Centre.Credit: Paul Jeffers
“Our tough bail laws have made it much harder for criminals to get bail,” the spokesman said. “This means more applications are being refused or cancelled, including repeated applications after being released on bail, which is expected and means our strict bail laws are working.”
Data from the Victoria Magistrates Court’s annual report shows the number of bail application decisions made by a magistrate (including grants, refusals, cancellations and modifications) increased by 10.5 per cent in the last financial year, from 37,692 in 2023-24 to 41,670 in 2024-25.
The annual report also shows that the total number of bail hearings the court had to deal with increased by 28 percent during the year, driven by sharp increases in refusals and cancellations.
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The number of bail refusals increased by 33 per cent, from 8471 in 2023-24 to 11,251 in 2024-25, while cancellations also increased by 85 per cent (from 3568 to 6612), resulting in the same defendant being sent back to court repeatedly, emergency hearings replacing scheduled matters and reducing the time available to dispose of other criminal cases.
“The Victorian Magistrates’ Court has observed an increase in bail applications following the implementation of statutory bail reform,” a court spokesman said, noting the escalation.
“The complexity of bail applications coming to court has increased and therefore the time required for these matters to be heard has increased.”
Beyond bail, general criminal claims against the court also continued to increase. The number of new criminal cases initiated increased by 8 per cent during the year to 146,322 (from 135,282 in 2023-24); This is the highest level recorded in the last five years. On the other hand, settled cases dropped by 9 percent to 135,035 after rising above 160,000 in 2022-23.
Some of Victoria’s busiest suburban courts were carrying particularly heavy loads. Sunshine Magistrates’ Court concluded 13,122 criminal cases, while Broadmeadows concluded 9,874 criminal cases; There is also a significant domestic violence response order backlog.
In August, the Victoria Magistrates Court launched the Remote Supervision Court, an online hub to help expedite custody hearings and manage court backlogs. The Victoria Magistrates Court hopes to expand the program in 2026, the spokesman said.
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