Queensland Consolidated Acts

BAIL ACT 1980 - SECT 11

11 Conditions of release on bail

(1AA) This section applies in relation to a person who is an adult.

(1) A court or police officer authorised by this Act to grant bail shall consider the conditions for the release of a person on bail in the following sequence—

(a) the release of the person on the person’s own undertaking without sureties and without deposit of money or other security;

(b) the release of the person on the person’s own undertaking with a deposit of money or other security of stated value;

(c) the release of the person on the person’s own undertaking with a surety or sureties of stated value;

(d) the release of the person on the person’s own undertaking with a deposit of money or other security of stated value and a surety or sureties of stated value;

but shall not make the conditions for a grant of bail more onerous for the person than those that in the opinion of the court or police officer are necessary having regard to the nature of the offence, the circumstances of the defendant and the public interest.

(2) Where a court or a police officer authorised by this Act to grant bail considers that the imposition of special conditions is necessary to secure that a person—

(a) appears in accordance with the person’s bail and surrenders into custody; or

(b) while released on bail does not—

(i) commit an offence; or

(ii) endanger the safety or welfare of members of the public; or

(iii) interfere with witnesses or otherwise obstruct the course of justice whether in relation to the person or another person;

Examples of special conditions for paragraph (b)(ii)—

• a special condition that prohibits a person from associating with a stated person or a person of a stated class

• a special condition that prohibits a person from entering or being in the vicinity of a stated place or a place of a stated class

that court or police officer shall impose such conditions as the court or police officer thinks fit for any or all of such purposes.

(3) Without limiting subsection (2) , a special condition may prohibit a person from doing, or attempting to do, any of the following while the person is released on bail—

(a) entering or remaining in stated licensed premises or a stated class of licensed premises;

(b) entering or remaining in, during stated hours, a stated area that is designated by its distance from, or location in relation to, the stated licensed premises or stated class of licensed premises mentioned in a special condition imposed under paragraph (a) ;

Examples of special conditions for paragraph (b)—

• a special condition that prohibits a person from entering or remaining in, between the hours of 10p.m. and 6a.m., an area that is within 10m of stated licensed premises mentioned in a special condition imposed under paragraph (a)

• a special condition that prohibits a person from entering or remaining in, between the hours of 11p.m. and 5a.m., a stated street, or an area abutting several stated streets, that is located near stated licensed premises mentioned in a special condition imposed under paragraph (a)

• a special condition that prohibits a person from entering or remaining in, between the hours of 11p.m. and 5a.m., the safe night precinct under the Liquor Act 1992 in which the stated licensed premises mentioned in a special condition imposed under paragraph (a) are located

(c) attending or remaining at a stated event, to be held in a public place, at which liquor will be sold for consumption.

(3A) In considering the imposition of special conditions under subsection (2) , the court or police officer must consider the likely effect a condition would have on the defendant’s ability to carry out the defendant’s responsibilities for—

(a) a person with whom the defendant is in a family relationship and for whom the defendant is the primary caregiver; or

(b) a person with whom the defendant is in an informal care relationship; or

(c) if the defendant is pregnant—the child of the pregnancy.

Examples of responsibilities—

• transporting a child to an appointment, childcare or school

• attending a medical appointment in relation to a pregnancy

• cultural obligations to a family member

(4) A court or a police officer authorised by this Act to grant bail for the release of a person must consider the imposition of a special condition mentioned in subsection (3) if—

(a) the alleged offence to which the bail relates involved the use, threatened use or attempted use of unlawful violence to another person or property; and

(b) having regard to the evidence available to the court or the police officer, the court or the police officer is satisfied that the alleged offence was committed in licensed premises or in a public place in the vicinity of licensed premises.

(4AA) If bail for a person is subject to a special condition mentioned in subsection (3) —

(a) for bail that is granted by a police officer at a police station, watch-house or police establishment (each a
"relevant place" )—a police officer may detain and photograph the person at the relevant place for the purposes of the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000 , chapter 19 , part 5B ; or

(b) otherwise—the court may impose a condition that requires the person to report to a police station within 48 hours after bail is granted to be photographed under the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000 , chapter 19 , part 5B .

(4A) A court or a police officer authorised by this Act to grant bail for the release of a person who is not an Australian citizen or permanent resident must consider the imposition of a special condition under subsection (2) —

(a) requiring the person to surrender the person’s current passport; and

(b) prohibiting the person from applying for a passport.

(5) Conditions imposed pursuant to subsection (2) shall not be more onerous for the person than those that in the opinion of the court or police officer are necessary having regard to the nature of the offence, the circumstances of the defendant and the public interest.

(6) If a court that grants bail on an adjournment of a hearing or while the defendant is awaiting trial considers an investigation ought to be made into the defendant’s physical or mental condition, the bail may be made subject to a condition that the defendant undergo medical examination—

(a) by a doctor at a specified institution or place other than a high security unit under the Mental Health Act 2016 ; or

(b) by a specified doctor.

(7) However, bail may be made subject to a condition that the defendant undergo a medical examination only if the proposed examination is an examination the defendant could lawfully be required to undergo if the defendant remained in custody.

(8) If bail is subject to a condition mentioned in subsection (6) , the court must arrange for a statement containing the following matters to be given to the institution, place or doctor—

(a) the reasons for the investigation;

(b) the information before the court about the defendant’s physical or mental condition.

(9) Without limiting a court’s power to impose a condition on bail under another provision of this section, a Magistrates Court may impose on the bail a condition that the defendant participate in a rehabilitation, treatment or other intervention program or course, after having regard to—

(a) the nature of the offence; and

(b) the circumstances of the defendant, including any benefit the defendant may derive by participating in the program or course; and

(c) the public interest.

Notes—

1 The defendant does not commit an offence against section 29 by breaking the condition. See section 29 (2) (b) .

2 Section 30 sets out the procedures for varying the defendant’s bail if the condition is broken or is likely to be broken.

(9A) Section 11AB also provides for a condition requiring completion of a Drug and Alcohol Assessment Referral course that may be imposed on a person’s release on bail in particular circumstances.

(9B) Without limiting a court’s power to impose a condition on bail under another provision of this section, a court may impose on the bail a condition that the defendant wear a monitoring device while the defendant is released on bail.

(9C) If bail for a person is subject to a condition mentioned in subsection (9B) , the court may impose any other condition the court considers necessary to facilitate the operation of the monitoring device.

Examples of conditions a court may consider necessary to facilitate the operation of a monitoring device required to be worn by a defendant—

• a condition that requires the defendant to attend at a stated place to be fitted with the monitoring device

• a condition that requires the defendant to take stated and other reasonable steps to ensure the monitoring device and any equipment necessary for the operation of the monitoring device are, or remain, in good working order

• a condition that requires the defendant to permit a police officer to enter stated premises to install equipment necessary for the operation of the monitoring device

• a condition that requires the defendant to permit a police officer to take stated and other reasonable steps to ensure the monitoring device and any equipment necessary for the operation of the monitoring device are, or remain, in good working order

• a condition that requires the defendant to comply with a direction given by a police officer that is reasonably necessary for the operation of the monitoring device

(10) In this section—

"Australian citizen" see the Australian Citizenship Act 2007 (Cwlth) , section 4 .

"monitoring device" means an electronic device capable of being worn, and not removed, by a person for the purpose of the Queensland police service, or the chief executive of the department in which the Corrective Services Act 2006 is administered, finding or monitoring the geographical location of the person.

"permanent resident" means—

(a) the holder of a permanent visa within the meaning of the Migration Act 1958 (Cwlth) , section 30 (1) ; or

(b) a New Zealand citizen who is the holder of a special category visa within the meaning of the Migration Act 1958 (Cwlth) , section 32 .