"Sentencing Advisory Council chairman Arie Freiberg said the increase
in prisoners on remand had been massive and was driven in large part by the
government’s response to community concerns about offences committed by
people on bail or parole.
Emeritus Professor Freiberg said the Andrews government was responding to
growing public support for tougher sentencing, following community horror
over appalling crimes such as Adrian Bayley’s rape and murder of Jill
Meagher while on parole.
There had been a reduction in the number of people being granted bail, and
in offenders being granted suspended sentences and community corrections
orders, he said.
“We’ve put in well over a billion dollars in prison infrastructure, 35 per
cent of those inside are not convicted, and many of those may not go to
jail at all, even if they are convicted,” Professor Freiberg said.
Tougher bail laws were introduced last year, ruling out bail unless under
exceptional circumstances for a range of serious offences including car
jacking, home invasion, armed robbery and culpable driving causing death."
"There has also been a growing number of people held on remand, which has been
a driver of prison population growth, with the number of unsentenced prisoners
increasing by 47% between 2010–11 and 2014–15. Over that same period, the number
of sentenced prisoners has increased by 26%."