New bail laws hastily passed by the New South Wales government after a campaign by a Sydney tabloid newspaper have failed to imprison the child sex offenders they were designed to target, while also being critiqued by a supreme court judge and criminal barristers.
Despite warnings from legal groups that “rushed reform can lead to flawed laws”, last month the NSW Coalition passed changes to the state’s bail act intended to make it harder for people convicted of child sexual assault charges to walk free before their sentencing.
