NSW's new centralised bail court, one week on

Following the alleged murder of Molly Ticehurst at Forbes in 2024 after her former partner was granted bail by a registrar, NSW moved to a centralised, Sydney-based bail court heard online. Annalise Ritchie reports on the first week of the new system for regional practitioners and clients — delays, an earlier cutoff time, and concerns raised by the Aboriginal Legal Service.

Mal: You’ll probably recall the Minns government decided to change the way bail applications are heard here in New South Wales following the alleged murder of Molly Ticehurst at Forbes in 2024, after her former partner was granted bail by a registrar. Well, things have changed — bail applications are now being heard centrally by magistrates in Sydney only, and exclusively online. There were lots of concerns raised in the lead-up, particularly from police, who were concerned it would divert officers from the front line, and from the Aboriginal Legal Service. How has it worked in the past week, and how will it work for people here in Wollongong, Nowra or Port Kembla needing to have their bail applications heard? Annalise Ritchie is a solicitor with Morrisons Lawyers locally and joins me now. Annalise, good morning.

Annalise Ritchie: Good morning, Mal.

Mal: Can you explain the changes that have been introduced in relation to bail applications, for all courts outside of Sydney?

Annalise Ritchie: There are really two key changes. The first is that registrars of the court will no longer make bail decisions. Secondly, we’ve centralised a bail court for all courts in regional New South Wales. So for anyone arrested in a regional area, rather than appearing before the local court as they previously did, they’ll appear by video link to a court in Sydney — with a magistrate and prosecutor in Sydney, and the person applying for bail appearing by video link, as will their solicitor and any media or community members who want to view the proceedings.

Mal: What’s the government’s rationale here? What are we trying to protect people from?

Annalise Ritchie: I think the government is concerned about the decision made by a registrar to grant bail in the Molly Ticehurst case, and I think centralising the bail courts this way is also seen as more efficient in terms of cost and resources from the court’s side.

Mal: Before last week, what would happen here in Wollongong — a big city, where I’m sure, particularly on weekends, a lot of people front up needing to apply for bail?

Annalise Ritchie: If someone was arrested in Wollongong, they’d be taken to Wollongong Police Station. A solicitor — either from Legal Aid, the Aboriginal Legal Service or a private practitioner — would go to the station to speak with that person in the cells and get instructions for a bail application. That solicitor would then go into Wollongong Local Court to make the application, heard by one of the local magistrates.

Mal: Not by a registrar. I know one of the issues was that some smaller courts, like Forbes, wouldn’t always have a magistrate on hand, so those applications were typically heard by registrars. But Wollongong was largely heard by magistrates?

Annalise Ritchie: Throughout the week it would be heard by a magistrate, Monday to Friday. We did previously have a registrar’s bail court held here on the weekends.

Mal: We’ve had this new system for a week. The Premier has conceded there may be teething problems, but doesn’t think that means the reform itself won’t work. What have you and your colleagues experienced over the past week?

Annalise Ritchie: The key thing we’ve experienced is a lot of delay in the current centralised bail court — probably a lot of that could be teething issues. For example, my office did a bail application last week where someone was granted bail about 2pm, and it wasn’t until after 6pm that day that he was actually released. For regional practitioners, one of the difficulties is it’s not uncommon to have multiple matters in court on the same day. Previously we could juggle a bail application and a sentence or hearing in the same courthouse, but under the centralised system you receive a call and are expected to dial in, so there’s been a lot of waiting around for the Sydney court to hear your matter.

Mal: Because they might physically need to be in another courtroom, but also have to be ready and waiting for the online call.

Annalise Ritchie: That’s exactly right.

Mal: There was also concern about a 12pm cutoff — that someone arrested after 9am probably wouldn’t have their bail application heard until the following day. What’s the 12pm cutoff about?

Annalise Ritchie: Our Bail Act requires that a person arrested by police and refused bail is brought before a court as soon as possible to apply for bail. Previously we had about a 3pm cutoff in Wollongong Court — as long as your matter was ready to proceed by 3pm, you’d go before the court the same day. That cutoff has moved to about 12pm, so if the charge process and paperwork isn’t finalised by then, you won’t appear before the court that day — you’ll be given priority the next day. If you’re arrested at, say, 9 or 10am, by the time police finish interviewing, forensic procedures and laying charges, you’ll likely miss the 12pm cutoff, and spend the night in custody at a police station.

Mal: Have you seen more of that over the past week — people who, under the previous system, would have had their bail application heard the same day, now having to stay overnight in the cells?

Annalise Ritchie: Yes, we’ve certainly had at least one person this week from our office who would have previously made it before the court the same day, but under the new system had to wait until the following day.

Mal: So overall, what are you thinking about this new system, and whether it can continue? Are these teething problems, or do you have more substantial concerns?

Annalise Ritchie: I think there are some genuine concerns from the legal profession. One of the key ones is Karly Warner, the CEO of the Aboriginal Legal Service, who has spoken out because the ALS hasn’t received any additional funding to facilitate their solicitors appearing in a centralised bail court. So one key concern is that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people may not have access to culturally safe legal services. It’s also a significant disadvantage to ALS clients who may have familiarity with practitioners there — practitioners who know about their mental health history, family support and community support — that a solicitor from outside the ALS may not know about. There are also difficulties with magistrates who are detached from the communities they’re making bail decisions about. Local magistrates can often be better placed to assess risk on a bail application — even something as simple as understanding how far away the proposed bail address is, the local geography, the local services available. It’s also not uncommon for regional magistrates to have some familiarity with the people who come before them.

Mal: So do you and your colleagues — at the Aboriginal Legal Service, at Legal Aid — have calls for the government to rethink some of this?

Annalise Ritchie: Yes, there are certainly some issues that need to be worked out in terms of this system.

Mal: We’ll follow it with interest — it’s only been a week, but clearly some of the issues raised in the lead-up have now been borne out over the first week, from both lawyers and police. Annalise, thank you so much for talking to us this morning.

Annalise Ritchie: Thanks, Mal.

Transcript lightly edited for readability (false starts, crosstalk removed).