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Bail Act 1982
7ANo bail for certain offences without high degree of confidence
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7A No bail for certain offences without high degree of confidence
in accused person
(1) This section applies to the following offences:
(a) murder;
(c) an offence against the Misuse of Drugs Act 1990 punishable
by a term of imprisonment for 7 years or more;
(d) an offence against the Customs Act 1901 (Cth) in relation to
narcotic goods punishable by a term of imprisonment for
10 years or more;
(da) an offence against Division 307 of the Criminal Code (Cth)
punishable by a term of imprisonment for 10 years or more;
(db) an offence against section 36, 37, 38 or 55 of the Serious
Crime Control Act 2009;
(dc) an offence against section 54, 103A, 242 or 243(1) of the
Criminal Code;
(dd) an offence against section 181 of the Criminal Code, or
section 120 of the Domestic and Family Violence Act 2007, if
the person accused of the offence has, at any time before the
date of that offence, been found guilty of any of the following
offences (the previous offence):
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(i) the offence of murder;
(ii) an offence against section 181, 188A, 189A, 208H,
208HA or 208HB of the Criminal Code;
(iii) an offence against a law of a State or other Territory or
another country that is similar to an offence mentioned in
subparagraph (i) or (ii);
(iv) an offence against section 192 of the Criminal Code, as
in force before the commencement of Part 2 of the
Criminal Justice Legislation Amendment (Sexual
Offences) Act 2023;
(de) a prescribed offence or serious offence (offence A) if the
person accused of offence A is charged with committing
offence A while on bail for a prescribed offence or serious
offence (the previous offence);
(dea)a prescribed offence or serious offence (offence AB) if the
person accused of offence AB has, within the period of
2 years immediately preceding the date of the alleged
commission of offence AB, been found guilty of 2 or more
prescribed offences or serious offences, or any combination of
them, for which a conviction was recorded;
(df) a serious offence (offence B) if the person accused of
offence B has, within the period of 10 years immediately
preceding the date of the alleged commission of offence B,
been found guilty of a serious violence offence (the previous
offence);
(dg) an offence where the accused person is the subject of an
order made under section 40 of the Sentencing Act 1995 (the
sentencing order) which may be breached if the person is
convicted of the offence, unless:
(i) the offence is a contravention of, or failure to comply
with, an instrument of a legislative or administrative
character; or
(ii) the authorised member or court is of the opinion that the
offence is so minor that a court is unlikely to regard it as
a breach of the suspended sentence;
(dh) an offence against section 120 of the Domestic and Family
Violence Act 2007 (offence C), if the person accused of
offence C has, within the period of 2 years immediately
preceding the date of the alleged commission of offence C,
been found guilty of a DVO contravention offence (the
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previous offence);
(e) a serious violence offence;
(f) a serious sexual offence.
(2) An authorised member or court must not grant bail to a person
accused of an offence to which this section applies unless the
person satisfies the member or court that bail should be granted.
See sections 24 and 24A in relation to the matters to be considered by an
authorised member or court in determining whether bail should be granted.
(2AA) The matter mentioned in section 24(1)(aa) is the paramount
consideration when the authorised member or court is determining
whether bail should be granted to the person.
Note for subsection (2AA)
Section 24(1)(aa) provides for consideration of the risk to the safety of the
community if a person accused of an offence is released on bail.
(2AB) Even if an authorised member or court is satisfied, as mentioned in
subsection (2), that bail should be granted, the member or court
must not grant bail to the person unless the member or court has a
high degree of confidence, when considered in isolation from
matters mentioned in sections 24 and 24A, that the person will not,
if released on bail:
(a) commit a prescribed offence or a serious violence offence; or
(b) otherwise endanger the safety of the community.
(2A) Despite subsection (1), subsections (2), (2AA) and (2AB) do not
apply to a person who is assessed to be suitable to participate in:
(a) a program of rehabilitation prescribed by the Regulations; or
(b) a program declared by the Minister under section 85A(1) of
the Domestic and Family Violence Act 2007 to be a
rehabilitation program.
(3) The requirement for bail cannot be dispensed with for a person
accused of an offence to which this section applies and section 9(2)
does not apply with respect to any such offence.
(4) In this section:
DVO contravention offence, see section 4 of the Domestic and
Family Violence Act 2007.
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previous offence includes an offence committed before the
commencement of section 6 of the Bail Amendment Act 2015.
sentencing order includes an order made before the
commencement of section 6 of the Bail Amendment Act 2015.