Youth Bail Laws : Changes in NSW

28 July 2025 in Criminal Law | 4 min read | skip to FAQs

This article discusses the youth bail laws and recent changes in NSW. On 12 March 2024, the NSW government introduced the Bail and Crimes Amendment Bill 2024. This legislation was created to amend bail laws, so that teenagers between 14 and 18 yrs who commit certain crimes whilst on bail can be refused bail. It is intended to reduce youth crime. The Bill became effective on 3 April 2024. We also discuss a new offence, also known as a Performance Crime, that was introduced to combat the posting of crimes to social media for entertainment.

What Are the Changes?

As part of the legislative changes, children aged between 14 and 18 years will find it increasingly difficult to be granted bail when charged with certain offences. The new Bill introduced section 22C in the Bail Act 2013 (NSW), which requires that bail not be granted to a “relevant young person” for a “relevant offence” committed while the relevant young person was on bail for another relevant offence, unless the bail authority has a high degree of confidence that the relevant young person will not commit a serious indictable offence while on bail, subject to any proposed bail conditions.

What is a Relevant Offence?

Section 22C of the Act defines a relevant offence as:

1. A motor theft offence; or
2. A serious breaking and entering offence; or
3. An offence under the Crimes Act 1900, section 154K (Performance Crime Offences), if the underlying offence is a motor theft offence or serious breaking and entering offence and the offender advertises the offence.

A decision pursuant to section 22C can only be made by the court after an assessment of bail concerns is made, consideration will be given to whether any bail conditions could be imposed to address any bail concerns, and whether there is risk that the relevant young person will commit a further serious indictable offence.

Section 22 C also states that the prosecution has the onus to establish that bail should be refused for the relevant young person.

Performance Crimes

The amendments also introduced a new section into the Crimes Act 1900 (NSW) that targets youth crime and social media. The new offences are called ‘Performance Crimes’. Section 154K provides that if a person commits a motor vehicle offence, or a breaking and entering offence, and subsequently disseminates information advertising the offence or their involvement in the offence, they will be liable for the maximum penalty for the relevant offence, plus an additional two (2) years imprisonment for disseminating information to advertise the crime, including through social media.

Why Have These Changes Been Introduced?

Australia has one of the lowest ages of criminal responsibility in the world, as a child can be found criminally responsible at the age of 10 years. For further information on this, please see our article on Children and the Criminal Justice System. Not only has the NSW Government ruled out raising the age of criminal responsibility, but the Government also believes stronger bail laws for young offenders will reduce the amount of youth crime in regional areas. These changes were implemented for several reasons, including:

1. Ensuring the community is protected, particularly in regional areas where there are increased rates of youth crime.
2. To address the increased rate of motor vehicle theft crimes committed by young offenders.

The NSW Attorney General, Michael Daley, stated that “these bail laws have been purposefully designed to address repeated alleged offending by young people aged between 14 and 18 years, who have been charged with serious break and enter and motor vehicle theft while on bail for another offence of that type”.

The Attorney General continued on to address concerns about whether this change will result in additional young offenders remaining locked up, stating

1. “this is why the change is time limited and
2. relates to young people who are already alleged to have committed at least one offence while on bail for another relevant offence”.

It is relevant that the amendments to the Bail Act 2013 (NSW) apply to any relevant young person who was on bail at the time of the alleged offence.It is not necessary that the relevant young person was found guilty of that prior offence.

Interestingly, the Government’s own statistics on youth crime do not appear to support any claim that there has been an increase in youth crime, see NSW Bureau of Crime Statistics and Research,

Opposition to the Changes

Many have argued that the changes will not work, and that evidence has demonstrated that punitive measures do not reduce the incidence of crime. The Law Society of NSW warned that the Bill was drafted too widely, and the bail test for young offenders is arguably more stringent than the current ‘show cause’ test that applies to adults. They further argued that the new laws would lead to the “incarceration of children and young people who would otherwise not have been incarcerated.”

A recent statement on bail made by the the Chief Justice of New South Wales makes the point that people on remand, (those refused bail), has increased by 20% in the last 5 years and costs the community over $600 million per year. Furthermore, due to delays, a number of people may be sentenced to a shorter sentence than the time spent in remand or indeed either found innocent or sentenced to a community correction order rather than a sentence of imprisonment. Clearly, this time in remand can never be recovered.

Do the new Youth Bail Laws have a Sunset Clause?

The NSW Government initially stated that these laws were a ‘temporary measure’ that have a sunset date of 12 months.

However, this has been extended to a sunset date of 1st October 2026. In any event justifying a law that may cause such harm to youth on the basis that it will only be short term does not appear to be a sufficient justification.

How can BSM Sydney Lawyers assist you?

The expert criminal lawyer at Brander Smith McKnight Lawyer Sydney are very  experienced in criminal law and bail applications. Our lawyers regularly attend the Local and District Courts and are proud of their success rate. We can assist you if you are dealing with a bail issue, our senior criminal lawyers offer a free 20-minute consultation.

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