There are significant changes to the Bail Act 1980 and Corrective Services Act 2006 are important to obtaining bail in domestic violence cases.

Generally, Queensland law provides its citizens the right to apply for Bail. This is the temporary release from arrest and detainment of an accused person awaiting trial. However, the Queensland Parliament considers that dangerous offenders should be remanded in custody, pending their trial.

The most notable changes that these legislative amendments will bring are:-

1. The reversal of the presumption that bail be granted in relation to domestic violence offences;
2. The ability to impose a special bail condition for a tracking device (or GPS tracker);
3. a system to alert the victim of a relevant domestic violence offence when the defendant applies for bail, is released on bail or receives a variation to a bail condition; and
4. the urgent review of a bail decision in a higher court, whereby, if bail was granted, the original bail decision would be stayed for up to three business days so that the alleged offender is not be released during that period.

A relevant Domestic Violence Offence not only covers a contravention of a Protection Order, but also includes other offences under the Criminal Code and Serious Violence Offences in the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992.