Why do people fail to comply with bail? An exploratory case study of two court jurisdictions in Queensland, Australia

Growing remand populations continue to place significant resource and workload pressures on police, courts and corrections in Australian and other jurisdictions. However, the factors impacting the issuance of bail and bail compliance are not well understood. This exploratory study of two court jurisdictions in Queensland, Australia using semi-structured interviews with legal and community stakeholders and people on bail (bailees), and police court briefs. Results indicate bail conditions are influenced by judicial officers’ background and community expectations, and reporting conditions are the most frequent condition given to bailees, but it is the most difficult condition to comply with. Bailees often agree to bail conditions without fully understanding the impacts of these conditions on their social and working life, impacting long-term sustainability of compliance.