A local Victorian legal aid lawyer says an increase in people on remand is “disrupting lives”, as Victoria’s prison population continues to surge.

A recent report by the Sentencing Advisory Council found Victoria’s prison population grew 62 per cent in the 20 years to 30 June 2024, driven mostly by fluctuations in the number of people held on remand – that is, people charged with offending but not released on bail.

The report examines long-term trends in Victoria’s prison population and finds three distinct time periods for the prison population over the 20 years.

Relative stability was a theme from 2004 to 2011, 2012 to 2019 was a period of significant growth, increasing to a peak of just over 8100 prisoners, while 2020 to 2024 was a period of unique decline, compared to jurisdictions in Australia and similar jurisdictions globally.

However, the unique trend found in the state from 2020-2024 has drastically changed, with an increase of 30 per cent more prisoners in the 365 days to 30 June, 2025.

Out of the 681 more people in prison during that time, 592 of those prisoners were unsentenced, as the state’s overall prison population increased to 6596.

The report read while there have been recent bail reforms that were intentionally designed to make Victoria’s bail laws “the toughest in Australia”, the first tranche of those reforms only commenced on 26 March this year.

“But the unsentenced prisoner population had increased well before then,” the report read.

Victoria Legal Aid (VLA) Ovens and Murray deputy managing lawyer Glenn Moody said the same remand trends were being seen in the region, particularly over the past 12 months.

“Rather than solving or responding effectively to crime, holding more people on remand means more people are having their lives disrupted, taken away from their families, jobs, homes and the supports they need to keep their lives on track,” he said.

“These are negative impacts that are felt by people on remand right across the state, including here in the Ovens Murray region.”

In three months from April to June this year following the state’s bail reforms, VLA data saw a 29pc increase in total number of remand duty lawyer services provided to adults compared to the previous year, a 47pc increase in services provided to women and a 50pc increase in services provided to children.

The increase in remand rates particularly in children are reportedly overwhelming youth custody centres.

There was also a 34pc increase in the number of remand duty lawyer services provided to adults experiencing or at risk of homelessness.

Other key findings for the 20-year period included more short and time served prison sentences, more imprisonment sentences for violent crimes, fewer women in prison and more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in prison.

VLA have also seen a 49pc increase in the number of remand duty lawyer services provided to First Nations adults and a whopping 144pc increase in services provided to First Nations children and a 159pc increase in services provided to First Nations women.