The Australian state of New South Wales (NSW) said on Tuesday that it will strengthen the justice system to better protect domestic and family violence victims by making it more difficult for those accused to get bail.
Legal reforms by the NSW government will include reversing the presumption of bail for serious domestic violence offences by expanding the category of “show cause” offences, which will require alleged offenders to demonstrate why they should be out in the community.
The reforms will require electronic monitoring of people charged with serious domestic violence who are on bail. This means that this cohort is either held on remand or electronically monitored.
They also include changes to make it easier to prosecute perpetrators who use tracking and surveillance devices as a tactic to maintain control over their victims.
“These new reforms will make it more difficult for alleged domestic violence offenders to get bail,” NSW Premier Chris Minns was quoted as saying in a media release by the state government.
“These are long overdue, targeted, and will help keep women and children safer,” he said.
These legislative reforms come after the NSW government announced last week a package of 230 million Australian dollars (152 million U.S. dollars) to improve the response to domestic and family violence through primary prevention, early intervention, and crisis response measures.
