<div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Victims of </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/youth-crime" rel="" target="" title="youth crime"><span>youth crime</span></a><span> say they don't trust the </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/victoria" rel="" target="" title="Victorian"><span>Victorian</span></a><span> premier and aren't convinced sweeping bail law changes will be implemented.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/jacinta-allan" rel="" target="" title="Jacinta Allan"><span>Jacinta Allan</span></a><span> today bowed to public pressure, promising to introduce the "toughest bail laws in the country" after a surge in violent crimes across the state.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Under the proposed new laws, magistrates will be required to put community safety first in all bail decisions, meaning remand will no longer be a "last resort" for youth offenders.</span></div></div><div><div id="adspot-mobile-medium"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/federal-election-2025-swing-seats-closest-margins-explained/e50609c7-527f-43d8-8c13-c5fd4313ef55" target="_blank"><strong><span>The federal election seats where just a few hundred votes could make all the difference</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It will once again be an offence to commit an indictable offence while on bail, after the government repealed the crime in 2023.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>It will also become harder to get bail over serious gun and arson offences, carjackings and non-aggravated home invasions.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Machetes will be declared prohibited weapons to "crack down on knife crime", the government said.</span></div></div><div><div class="OUTBRAIN" data-reactroot="" data-src="//www.9news.com.au/national/crime-victims-yet-to-trust-victorian-governments-bail-overhaul/43046de0-311b-4816-abb4-8ba5a82f45cf" data-widget-id="AR_5"></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Allan today apologised to victims of the crime crisis for "the hurt and pain and trauma" they have experienced.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But crime victim Anthony Pinzone, whose three luxury cars were allegedly stolen by a 15-year-old who had already been on bail more than 15 times, said he was "yet to be convinced".</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Yet to trust [Allan] ... it's been 18 months to do it. What's gonna be different now?" Pinzone said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"How many kids have been traumatised? Cars stolen, people passed away in between and it's taken all this time to step up."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>The 15-year-old allegedly broke into Pinzone's Beaumaris home with his gang just 12 hours after he was released by a children's court judge.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Pinzone claims he has been left $20,000 to $30,000 out of pocket as a result of the alleged theft.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"These young kids are running around doing whatever they want and Jacinta Allan is pumping her hands in the air saying, 'Hey, I've got the toughest bail laws in Australia'," Pinzone said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><strong><span>READ MORE:</span></strong><span> </span><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/donald-trump-rules-out-tariff-exemption-australian-steel-and-aluminium/2b339ef2-d341-475d-ad11-f62fb6f08dec" rel="" target="_blank" title=""><strong><span>Steel, aluminium tariffs 'completely unjustified' Albanese says</span></strong></a></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>9News understand police have welcomed the bail proposals, but they want the government to turn its attention to tougher sentences for youth offenders.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>But RMIT University criminologist Dr Marietta Martinovic said putting young people behind bars can have dire consequences.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"When people enter custody at young age, they mostly learn about criminal activity from others on the inside and rarely do they engage in positive activity," Martinovic said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"[It] creates in most cases, worse criminals to when they come into the system."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>Martinovic, and other critics including the Victorian Greens, would like to see a focus on prevention, despite the cost.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"What we need is evidence based, long term solutions like early intervention and preventative measures, that get to the root case of the problem and support children, not just kneejerk policy on the run from a panicking premier," Victorian Greens justice spokesperson Katherine Copsey said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><em><span>The Age</span></em><span> crime writer John Silvester told 3AW the wheels of justice need to turn faster.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"Jacinta Allan says we're gonna have the toughest laws in the country. Well, actually we want the best bail laws in the country," Sylvester said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"The main problem is the delay between charging someone and getting them to court."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>In response, Allan said the system had the capacity to address an uptick in offenders on remand.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We will be resourcing the system to support these tough new bail laws," she said.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"We have capacity in our corrections system, and also too this is about putting community safety front and centre of the decision making, of bail decision making.</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><span>"I've heard from victims very, very clearly that the current laws, they're not meeting community expectations, they're not addressing this repeat pattern of offending that is causing concern in our community."</span></div></div><div class="block-content"><div class="styles__Container-sc-1ylecsg-0 goULFa"><a href="https://www.9news.com.au/national/how-to-follow-9news-digital/29855bb1-ad3d-4c38-bc25-3cb52af1216f"><strong><span>DOWNLOAD THE 9NEWS APP</span></strong></a><strong><span>: Stay across all the latest in breaking news, sport, politics and the weather via our news app and get notifications sent straight to your smartphone. 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