People accused of serious domestic violence offences in New South Wales will either be refused bail, or they'll be forced to wear a GPS tracker. Premier Chris Minns says the bail changes will improve safety for women, but not all parts of the plan are ready to roll out.
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00:00 Following the death of Molly Ticehurst in Forbes, allegedly at the hands of a former partner who was out on bail,
00:07 the NSW Government promised two separate reviews. Now the Premier says he can't afford to wait for them.
00:14 We will introduce legislation reversing the presumption of bail for serious domestic violence offences in the state.
00:22 It means people charged with certain domestic violence offences, including sexual assault,
00:26 some strangulation offences, kidnapping and coercive control, will have to show cause,
00:31 putting the onus on them to convince a magistrate they can be safely released.
00:36 Even if they're granted bail, they'll have to wear a GPS tracker,
00:39 but the Government can't say when that system will be up and running.
00:43 We are concerned at the moment about what the time frame is. The Government is not starting from scratch.
00:49 We know that electronic monitoring is being extensively used at the moment with parolees.
00:53 There are always concerns with any kind of new reliance upon technology.
00:57 For example, if they cut the monitor off, what then happens and what are the things that are in place to protect victims?
01:02 Other changes will require magistrates, not registrars, to assess bail in the most serious cases,
01:08 ensure they consider certain red flags in the accused's behaviour, like harming an animal or verbal abuse,
01:14 and require them to consider victims' and families' safety concerns.
01:18 The proposals will also make it easier to keep alleged offenders behind bars while prosecutors challenge a bail decision,
01:25 and give police more power to prosecute people who use secret tracking devices to monitor their partners.
01:31 The policy is likely to put a strain on the NSW prison system,
01:35 which is now housing a record number of convicted or alleged domestic violence offenders.
01:40 The Premier says it will lead to more incarceration, but is confident it'll also save lives.
01:46 [BLANK_AUDIO]