Conditions of Bail

Instead of being kept in custody, you may be granted bail either by the police or the court. If bail is granted, you will need to sign an undertaking agreeing to appear at a certain court at a particular time and date.

When released on bail, you may be required to agree to abide by certain conditions. Those conditions will be explained to you and written down on a bail undertaking. You and your surety (if there is one) are required to sign that undertaking and will be given copies of your undertaking.

If you lose your copy of the bail undertaking, you should immediately contact the court or police and ask them to remind you when you need to appear in court. You should also ask them to remind you what conditions are attached to your bail.

Conditions that are commonly attached to bail may include that you:

• Will appear in a certain court at a particular date and time;
• That if you cannot attend at that particular time then you will attend at that court as soon as practicable after that date or time (see Breach of Bail for more information on failing to attend court);
• Will not commit any offences while you are on bail. If you are charged with more offences that were committed after you were released on bail, you might be kept in custody until the court has dealt with your charges;
• Agree to forfeit a certain amount of money if you do not appear in court at the stipulated time;
• Have a surety who agrees to forfeit a certain amount of money if you do not appear in court at the stipulated time. If your charges must be dealt with in the District Court or Supreme Court, you have previously breached bail or you are on bail for other charges, you will usually be required to have a surety if bail is granted. Your surety must be able to prove that he or she has assets which are valued at an amount higher than the amount of the surety;
• Will report to a police station on certain days;
• Will abide by a curfew to be at a specified address between certain hours;
• Will live at one address only;
• Will not contact the complainant and/or any other nominated person (either directly or indirectly);
• Not attend certain places or areas.

You may also be placed on home detention bail, which requires you to be at home 24 hours a day. You may also be required to abide by any other conditions set by the court. The police cannot release you on home detention, only the court can do so. Before considering home detention bail, the court will request that an assessment be made of the address you propose to live at. A report will be presented to the court about that address and the other people who reside there. This assessment usually takes eight days.

For more information on what happens if you breach a condition of your bail, see Breach of Bail.

Last Reviewed: September 2008