Bail decisions: Key challenges driving bail refusal

Deciding on whether a person can be granted bail-that is, conditionally released into the community before a criminal court date-is a complex balancing act. Decision-makers need to weigh up an individual’s rights and key legal principles around liberty with the need to keep the community safe and protect the integrity of the trial process. Thousands of bail decisions are made by police, courts and other bail authorities each year, most of which do not come to the attention of the public. However, a raft of law reform has occurred in this space, sometimes driven by high profile cases. A gradual erosion of presumptions for bail, law and order approaches and increasingly complex tests for bail have been evident in the Australian criminal justice system in recent decades. This chapter explores key controversies and challenges for bail decision-makers, with particular attention to the experiences of homeless children.