Bail in Queensland: the Bail Act 1980, Unacceptable Risk and Show Cause

Queensland decides bail under the Bail Act 1980. A court or police officer must refuse bail if satisfied of an unacceptable risk under section 16, and for a defined list of more serious charges in section 16(3) the defendant must instead show cause why detention is not justified.

Police bail and court bail

Section 7 of the Bail Act 1980 lets a police officer grant bail to an adult before a first court appearance, subject to section 13, which reserves bail for the most serious Criminal Code charges to the Supreme Court, and for people with a terrorism conviction or a Commonwealth control order to a court. For adults, from first appearance onward, a Magistrates, District or Supreme Court grants or refuses bail under sections 8, 9 and 16; a child's release is decided under the Youth Justice Act 1992, part 5. Section 10(1) gives the Supreme Court or a judge of it power to grant, enlarge, vary or revoke bail at any stage, and section 10(2) lets the trial judge deal with bail once a Supreme Court or District Court jury has the case.

The unacceptable risk test

For an adult defendant, section 16(1) and section 9 state the general rule: a court or authorised police officer must refuse bail only where satisfied there is an unacceptable risk that the defendant, if released, would fail to appear and surrender into custody, commit an offence, endanger the safety or welfare of the alleged victim or anyone else, or interfere with witnesses or otherwise obstruct the course of justice, or that the defendant should remain in custody for their own protection. Section 16(2) lists the matters weighed in that assessment: the nature and seriousness of the offence, the defendant's character, background and bail history, the strength of the evidence, any submission from an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community justice group, and, under section 16(2)(f), domestic violence risk assessed against section 177(2) of the Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 2012.

Offences that require the defendant to show cause

Section 16(3) reverses the ordinary position for a defined list of charges: the court or police officer must refuse bail unless the defendant shows cause why their detention is not justified. The list covers an indictable offence allegedly committed while the defendant was at large, with or without bail, before committal for trial or while awaiting trial for another indictable offence, an offence to which section 13(1) applies (Criminal Code offences carrying mandatory life imprisonment or an indefinite sentence, for which only the Supreme Court may grant bail), an indictable offence involving the use or threatened use of a firearm, offensive weapon or explosive substance, an offence against the Bail Act itself, an offence under section 161ZI of the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992 or section 32 of the Peace and Good Behaviour Act 1982, aggravated stalking under Criminal Code section 359 with an aggravating circumstance, and a relevant offence as defined in section 16(6). That definition reaches strangulation in a domestic violence context under Criminal Code section 315A, any offence carrying 7 or more years imprisonment that is also a domestic violence offence, several named Criminal Code offences committed in a domestic violence context, and a section 177(2) Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act offence involving unlawful violence or committed by a repeat offender within a statutory lookback period.

Bail conditions

Section 11, which applies to adults, sets a preferred order running from the least to the most onerous condition: the defendant's own undertaking with no sureties, a deposit of money or security, one or more sureties, or a deposit combined with sureties, none of which may be more onerous than necessary. Special conditions under section 11(2) to (5) include non-association requirements, exclusion from stated places, curfew and exclusion zones around licensed premises and safe night precincts, passport surrender for non-citizens, medical examination, and participation in a rehabilitation or treatment program or a Drug and Alcohol Assessment Referral course under section 11AB. An adult monitoring device condition sits in section 11(9B) and 11(9C). Youth monitoring conditions instead sit in the Youth Justice Act, discussed below.

Applying and reapplying for bail

Section 19 lets an aggrieved defendant apply to a court empowered under section 8 for a bail order or a variation of one. Unlike New South Wales, the Bail Act 1980 has no general statutory new facts or changed circumstances gate on repeat applications. The one hard limit is section 10(3): once the trial judge in a Supreme Court or District Court trial decides bail after the defendant is given in charge to the jury, that decision is final and the defendant has no right to a further application in relation to that custody. Outside that specific trial stage scenario, repeated applications are not statutorily barred, though a court can still control abuse of its process under ordinary common law principles.

Review and appeal

Section 19B allows review of a police, justice or magistrate bail decision, going to a Magistrates Court where the original decision maker was a police officer or non-magistrate justice, or to a single judge of the Supreme Court for any other decision. A further review of a magistrate's review decision under section 19C lies to the Supreme Court by leave only. Section 19CA imposes an automatic stay of up to 3 business days if the Crown seeks review of a release decision for a relevant domestic violence offence. Separately, section 10's general Supreme Court power remains available at any stage, and under section 8(5) the Court of Appeal's bail powers may be exercised by a single Supreme Court judge, with a right of escalation to the Court of Appeal if that judge refuses.

Breach of bail

Section 29 makes it an offence to break a bail undertaking condition, other than the surrender into custody condition or a section 11(9) rehabilitation or Drug and Alcohol Assessment Referral condition, which are instead handled as a non-criminal variation under section 30. The maximum penalty is 40 penalty units or 2 years imprisonment. Failing to surrender into custody in accordance with an undertaking, after apprehension on warrant, is an offence under section 33, and because section 33 states no specific penalty, the default penalty for an offence against the Act under section 35(2) applies, which is the same 40 penalty units or 2 years imprisonment. Other Bail Act offences carry different maxima, including 10 penalty units or 6 months for breaching a section 12 non-publication order, and 17 penalty units or 1 year for indemnifying a surety under section 26. At the 172.70 dollar penalty unit value effective from 1 July 2026, the section 29 and section 33 maximum fine is 6,908 dollars.

Youth bail and electronic monitoring

The Making Queensland Safer Act 2024 amended the Youth Justice Act 1992, not the Bail Act 1980. Its bail-relevant change, on assent on 13 December 2024, omitted section 48AA(4)(b)(i), which had allowed a court or police officer deciding whether to release a child without bail or on bail to have regard to youth justice principle 18 on when a child should be detained. The same Act separately told sentencing courts to disregard any principle that detention is a last resort. Separately, the Youth Justice (Electronic Monitoring) Amendment Act 2026 commenced on 30 April 2026 and repealed the previous geographically limited trial scheme entirely, replacing it with a permanent, statewide monitoring device condition under section 52AA. The reform also broadened eligibility: a young person no longer needs to be at least 15 years old or charged with a prescribed indictable offence, so the condition is now available for any 10 to 17 year old charged with any offence, provided the chief executive confirms monitoring infrastructure and support services are available in that area. A court must still order a suitability assessment report before imposing the condition, and must limit any detention needed to fit the device to the minimum time required.

Recent reforms

The Criminal Law (Coercive Control and Affirmative Consent) and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2024 amended sections 6, 11 and 16 of the Bail Act from 18 March 2024 and created the coercive control offence in Criminal Code section 334C, in force from 26 May 2025. The Making Queensland Safer Act 2024, assented on 13 December 2024, made the youth bail change described above. The Youth Justice (Electronic Monitoring) Amendment Act 2026, passed on 12 February 2026, took effect on 30 April 2026 and made youth electronic monitoring permanent and statewide as described above. Two other 2026 Acts amend the Bail Act but were not in force when this page was written: the Expanding Adult Crime, Adult Time and Taking a Strong Stance on Drugs and Anti-Social Behaviour Amendment Act 2026, whose Bail Act amendments await a proclamation date, and the Criminal Code (Dangerous Driving) and Other Legislation Amendment Act 2026, whose Bail Act amendments commence on 1 March 2027. A Breach Bail, Go to Jail and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2026 proposes further bail changes, including a new offence of committing prescribed offences while on bail; it is a bill, not law.

For context on the offence itself, see coercive control laws in Australia and, for the domestic violence order framework a section 16(3) relevant offence often runs alongside, Queensland domestic violence orders. A defendant facing a bail decision should get advice from Legal Aid Queensland or a lawyer rather than relying on this general information. For how a Queensland conviction can later affect background checks, see spent convictions in Australia, and for the state by state comparison of these tests, see bail laws across Australia on the Australia criminal law hub.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the unacceptable risk test for bail in Queensland?

Under section 16(1) of the Bail Act 1980, a court or police officer must refuse bail to an adult defendant only if satisfied there is an unacceptable risk the defendant would fail to appear, commit an offence, endanger someone's safety, or interfere with witnesses, weighing the factors listed in section 16(2).

What does show cause mean under section 16(3)?

For the offence categories listed in section 16(3), such as an indictable offence allegedly committed while at large on another indictable charge, firearm offences and domestic violence linked relevant offences defined in section 16(6), the defendant must show cause why their detention is not justified, reversing the ordinary onus.

Is Queensland's youth electronic monitoring scheme still a trial?

No. The Youth Justice (Electronic Monitoring) Amendment Act 2026 commenced on 30 April 2026 and replaced the earlier geographically limited trial with a permanent, statewide condition available for any 10 to 17 year old charged with any offence.

What is the penalty for breaching bail in Queensland?

Breaking a bail condition under section 29, or failing to surrender into custody under section 33, carries a maximum of 40 penalty units or 2 years imprisonment, which is 6,908 dollars at the 172.70 dollar penalty unit value effective from 1 July 2026.

Can a defendant apply for bail more than once in Queensland?

The Bail Act 1980 has no general new facts requirement for repeat applications under section 19. The only statutory bar is section 10(3), which makes the trial judge's bail decision in a Supreme Court or District Court trial, once the defendant is given in charge to the jury, final for that period of custody.

Did the Making Queensland Safer Act 2024 change the Bail Act?

No. It amended the Youth Justice Act 1992, removing a detention-principle consideration from the youth bail factors in section 48AA, rather than changing the Bail Act 1980's own test.