Victoria's Jails Are Too Full as Bail Laws Get Tougher

Victoria's prisons are running out of space because of new bail laws that keep more people locked up while they wait for their court cases. The government changed the rules in March 2025 to make it harder for people charged with crimes to get bail. This means more people are staying in jail before their trials. Some people are even being kept in police cells for too long because there aren't enough prison beds.

Premier Jacinta Allan says the new bail laws are working well. She believes keeping dangerous people in jail helps protect the community. Police Minister Anthony Carbines said that 84 percent more people are now being denied bail than before. The government wants to stop repeat criminals and violent offenders from getting out of jail too easily.

But lawyers and prison workers say the system has serious problems. There are not enough beds in the prisons for all the people who need them. Some people are being kept in police cells for more than 14 days, which is longer than the law allows. Police cells are not meant for long stays because they don't have proper medical care or good conditions.

The situation is especially worrying for Indigenous people. Raagini Vijaykumar from the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service says her group is very concerned. She fears someone might die in custody like what happened before. In 2020, an Aboriginal woman named Veronica Nelson died while waiting for trial on theft charges.

Criminal lawyer Melinda Walker says the government is struggling to find places for people on remand. People on remand are those waiting for their court cases but not yet found guilty. Walker explains that police cells are much worse than prison cells. People only have the clothes they're wearing, share toilets with others, and don't get fresh air.

Prison workers are also feeling the pressure from the overcrowding. Jiselle Hanna from the prison officers' union used to work as a corrections officer. She says the prison system wasn't built to handle so many people on remand. People waiting for trial are harder to manage than those already found guilty.