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Warning to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers: This story contains images and references to a deceased person.
The partner of an Aboriginal woman who died in police custody says Victoria needs to change bail laws to prevent another tragedy, after The Age revealed the government was considering waiting another year to launch reforms despite a coroner’s call for urgent change.
Coroner Simon McGregor labelled bail provisions a “complete, unmitigated disaster” after the death of Veronica Nelson, a 37-year-old Gunditjmara, Dja Dja Wurrung, Wiradjuri and Yorta Yorta woman. Nelson died alone in a cell in January 2020 after being arrested for shoplifting and failing to appear on bail.
Veronica Nelson’s partner Percy Lovett (second from left) and her mother Donna Nelson (centre) with family and supporters in January.Credit: Joe Armao
Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes is expected to introduce the government’s reform bill in state parliament in coming weeks following six months of consultations, sparked by the coroner’s report into Nelson’s death.
But the proposed reforms would not be implemented for another 12 months after being introduced in parliament, according to working documents from the Department of Justice and Community Safety obtained by The Age. The documents say this would be a feasible time frame.
“Veronica shouldn’t have been refused bail. She wouldn’t have hurt anyone. What happened to Veronica should never happen again,” her partner, Uncle Percy Lovett, said.
“The government needs to make real changes to bail laws to stop so many people getting locked up before they have even been sentenced. No one should be locked up and refused bail if they wouldn’t get a prison sentence.”
Amala Ramarathinam, acting managing lawyer at the Human Rights Law Centre, said the Andrews government had acknowledged that Victoria’s “dangerous and discriminatory bail laws were in need of urgent reform”.
“Any delays to wholesale reform will mean the Andrews government will continue inflicting unnecessary and preventable harm on people, especially Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, and put them at risk of dying in a police or prison cell,” she said.
“The family of Veronica Nelson has made it clear that any bail reforms must be fair, compliant with the Victorian Charter of Human Rights, and will not needlessly discriminate against people experiencing disadvantage.”
Nerita Waight, chief executive of the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service, said the 2017 bail laws “were the most punitive and regressive in Australia”.
Veronica Nelson and Percy Lovett.
The government had tightened bail laws after James Gargasoulas killed six people in the 2017 Bourke Street massacre while on bail. The 2018 changes expanded the “reverse onus” test, requiring people accused of a wide range of offences to prove “compelling reasons” and “exceptional circumstances” to be granted bail.
“The 2017 bail laws are a stain on Daniel Andrews’ time as premier – they are his biggest policy failure. They have done immeasurable harm to thousands of people, their families, and their communities,” Waight said.
“Veronica’s family and Aboriginal communities across Victoria have been consistent in asking for urgent bail reform. It has been three and a half years since Veronica’s passing – why should we have to wait any longer? The Andrews government have shown they can move much quicker when they care to.”
Nelson’s family outlined their vision for change, referred to as Poccum’s Law (“Poccum” was Nelson’s nickname as a child), in March.
Gabrielle Williams, the Minister for Treaty and First Peoples, said Symes was working on the bail reforms.
“I don’t want to for a second underestimate the difficulty in this work and the challenge for the attorney and doing it. I know she remains committed to getting it right,” she said on Monday.
“And to being able to strike that balance too, in protecting Victorians from that dangerous and high-level offending, while also ensuring, though, that we’re not unnecessarily imprisoning vulnerable communities for low-level offending. That’s a balancing act she is currently working on.”
Images contained in this story were released to the media with permission from the family. For crisis support run by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, contact 13YARN (13 92 76).
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