In November, The Age reported that custody cells beneath Melbourne Magistrates’ Court were full, and corrections staff were forced to choose whom to transport in from the state’s police stations and remand centres to face court.
A state government spokesperson said the increase in bail activity had been expected, and that seven new magistrates appointed last month were part of the extra resources being provided to courts to help them work through the caseload.
A prison van leaves the Melbourne Custody Centre.Credit: Paul Jeffers
“Our tough bail laws have made it much harder for offenders to get bail,” the spokesperson said. “This means more applications, including repeat applications after bail, are denied or revoked – this is expected and means our tough bail laws are working.”
Data from the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria’s annual report shows the number of bail application orders decided by a magistrate – including grants, refusals, revocations and variations – increased by 10.5 per cent over the last financial year, from 37,692 in 2023-24 to 41,670 in 2024-25.
The annual report also shows the total number of bail hearings the court had to deal with jumped 28 per cent over the year, driven by sharp increases in refusals and revocations.
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While bail refusals climbed 33 per cent from 8471 in 2023-24 to 11,251 in 2024-25, revocations surged 85 per cent (from 3568 to 6612), sending the same accused back before the court multiple times, with urgent hearings displacing scheduled matters and reducing the time available to finalise other criminal cases.
“The Magistrates’ Court of Victoria has observed an increase in bail-related applications following the implementation of legislative bail reform,” a spokesperson for the court said, noting the climb.
“Bail-related applications coming before the court have increased in complexity and therefore the time required to hear these matters.”
Beyond bail, overall criminal demand on the court also continued to rise. The number of new criminal cases initiated increased 8 per cent over the year to 146,322 (up from 135,282 in 2023-24) – the highest level recorded in the past five years, while case finalisations fell 9 per cent to 135,035 after peaking at more than 160,000 in 2022-23.
Some of Victoria’s busiest suburban courts carried particularly heavy loads. Sunshine Magistrates’ Court finalised 13,122 criminal cases, while Broadmeadows finalised 9,874, alongside substantial family-violence intervention order workloads.
In August, the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria launched the Remote Custody Court, an online hub to help fast-track custody hearings and manage court backlogs. The spokesperson said the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria hoped to expand the program in 2026.
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