The Victorian government has back-pedalled on plans to relax child bail laws after a recent spike in youth crime. Legal and human rights groups have labelled the delay "senseless", arguing it will cause preventable harm to children.
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00:00 A worrying surge in child crime across Victoria has forced a bail back down.
00:07 The fact is that the government has done a 180 degree flip when it comes to youth bail.
00:13 Today we have seen a last minute back flip.
00:16 Parliament debated the government's long awaited bail reforms today, but last night Labor shelved
00:22 its plans to relax child bail laws.
00:25 Child bail reforms is still on the agenda, this is not a back flip, this is just a pause.
00:31 What's changed? Well the Premier's changed, but also the headlines have changed.
00:35 The laws would make it easier for children accused of any crime except terrorism and
00:40 homicide offences to get bail. But they'll now be revisited next year, along with plans
00:45 to raise the age of criminal responsibility from 10 to 12.
00:50 I'm dealing with them separately as I think it makes more sense to the public, particularly
00:54 in light of recent incidences involving young offenders that have been quite serious.
01:01 Laws that make it easier for adults to get bail are expected to pass Parliament. It comes
01:06 after a coroner investigating the death in custody of Veronica Nelson found the current
01:11 laws unfairly impacted Indigenous Victorians.
01:15 The current bail settings aren't working in the way that they should.
01:20 New data obtained by the ABC reveals the number of children who committed an indictable offence
01:25 whilst on bail decreased in the past two years, and they were a fraction of the overall people,
01:32 accounting for less than 1% of those charged.
01:36 Legal and human rights groups have labelled the pause on child bail reforms as senseless,
01:41 saying it'll cause harm to young people by keeping them needlessly locked up, waiting
01:46 for a trial.
01:48 These changes will absolutely have a detrimental impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
01:52 children.
01:53 The Attorney-General insists the reforms are not urgent.
01:56 [BLANK_AUDIO]