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Queensland’s attorney-general has slammed a report recommending bail laws be weakened across the country.
The Standing Council of Attorneys-General (SCAG) met today in Brisbane where they discussed the final report of a working group tasked with developing bail and remand law reforms.
The report was compiled by representatives from the federal and state and territory governments as well as the Justice Policy Partnership and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services.
Attorney-General Deb Frecklington was not interested in changing bail laws.Credit: William Davis
The working group was brought together to “address the growing and disproportionate use of remand in Australia’s justice system through bail reform, noting its impact on the mass incarceration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and adults,” the report’s foreword said.
It made six recommendations, including that bail laws “explicitly provide that imprisonment be a last resort” for both adults and young people.
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Queensland Attorney-General Deb Frecklington flagged her distaste for the report’s recommendations on her way into the SCAG meeting this morning.
“Queensland will not be forced into backing down on our tough laws by the federal government, no way,” she said.
“If the Albanese government thinks they can push Queensland into watering down our laws, absolutely not.”
Speaking after the meeting, federal Attorney-General Michelle Rowland said the report was asked for by the states and territories, but her government would not be pushing for them to take up the recommendations.
“At SCAG I proposed that we release this report without endorsement and that was agreed by consensus,” she said.
Michelle Rowland said the report was not endorsed by the states. Credit: Julius Dennis
“It’s up to the states and territories what they do with these recommendations.
“They commissioned this report in the first place in order to inform them on policies going forward.”
The release of the report came in the same week Victoria announced it would be toughening its bail laws for young people accused of violent crimes.
The “adult time for violent crime” laws, proposed by Victoria’s Labor government on Tuesday, have echoes of the “adult crime, adult time” slogan that Queensland’s LNP took to last year’s election.
The recommendations of the SCAG Bail and Remand Reform Working Group strike a very different chord, including that there be a presumption in favour of children being awarded bail.
The report recommended people with cognitive, psychosocial, mental health or other disability‑related issues receive the same presumption.
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