Bail Act 2013

Bail Act 2013
Coat of Arms of New South Wales
Parliament of New South Wales
Long title An Act to make provision for bail in connection with criminal and other proceedings.
Citation	Bail Act 2013
Enacted by	New South Wales Legislative Assembly
Enacted by	New South Wales Legislative Council
Commenced	20 May 2014
Administered by	Department of Attorney General and Justice
Legislative history
First chamber: New South Wales Legislative Assembly
Bill title	Bail Bill 2013
Introduced by	Greg Smith, Attorney General
First reading	1 May 2013
Second reading	1 May 2013, 8 May 2013, 9 May 2013 .
Third reading	9 May 2013
Second chamber: New South Wales Legislative Council
Member(s) in charge	Michael Gallacher, Minister for Police and Emergency Services, Minister for the Hunter, and Vice-President of the Executive Council
First reading	21 May 2013
Second reading	21 May 2013, 22 May 2013
Third reading	22 May 2013
Amended by
Bail Amendment Act 2014, Bail Amendment Act 2015
Status: Current legislation

The Bail Act 2013 is a New South Wales law that came into effect on 20 May 2014. It replaces the Bail Act 1978, which was considered "groundbreaking" when enacted, but has been reformed several times to presume against bail. The new act was created with the aims that it would be easier to understand, would further protect the community and would promote consistent decision-making. The Bail Act 2013 uses an "unacceptable risk" test in regard to whether "the accused will fail to appear in any proceedings for the offence, commit a serious offence, endanger the safety of victims, individuals or the community, or interfere with witnesses or evidence".

The Bail Act 2013 passed in the NSW parliament in May 2013. In response to a review, Bail Act reforms passed parliament in September 2014, and came into effect on 28 January 2015.