While there is not common law right to bail, the Bail Amendment
Act 2014 (NSW) ("2014 Act") has been criticised for
impinging on the fundamental principles of the presumption of
innocence and the right to liberty, as well as representing a move
back to the system of offence based presumptions and
"conflating" bail with "punishment" and
"guilt".
On 18 September 2014 NSW Parliament passed the 2014 Act to amend
the Bail Act 2013 (NSW) (2013 Act), which had only commenced on 20
May 2014. The 2013 Act had in turn replaced the Bail Act 1978 (NSW)
(1978 Act).
Recent changes to the State's bail laws have drawn criticism
for the implications for Indigenous Australians. However,
historically NSW bail laws have always had a "disproportionate
impact" on the State's Indigenous population. As the
Director of the Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research, Dr Don
Weatherburn, said in 2010
