Breach of Bail
Lawyer Cairns
Being charged with breach of bail creates an immediate crisis — you are arrested, held in custody, and the onus reverses so that you must convince the court to release you. A breach of bail is also a separate criminal offence that compounds whatever charge you were already facing. Whether the breach was failing to appear, breaking a curfew, contacting a person you were ordered not to contact, or entering a place you were excluded from, the response needs to be immediate and prepared. An unprepared bail application after a breach is almost certain to fail.
The Offences — Bail Act 1980 (Qld)
Breach of bail involves two main offences under the Bail Act 1980 (Qld): Failure to appear — Section 33, Bail Act If you are granted bail and fail to appear in court when required, you commit an offence under section 33 of the Bail Act 1980 . This is a standalone criminal offence carrying its own penalty. A warrant will be issued for your arrest, and you will be taken into custody. A defence is…
Show Cause — The Reversed Onus
This is the most important practical consequence of a breach of bail. Under section 16 of the Bail Act 1980 , a person who has breached a bail condition or failed to appear is required to show cause why their continued detention is not justified. Normally, bail is the starting position — the prosecution must convince the court there is a reason to refuse bail. Show cause reverses this entirely.…
Common Breach Scenarios
Contacting the complainant The most common breach in domestic violence and assault matters. No-contact conditions are imposed to protect complainants and witnesses. Any contact — a phone call, a text message, a message through a friend, liking a social media post, being in the same location — can constitute a breach. In DV matters, a breach of a no-contact bail condition often results in an…
The Impact on Your Underlying Charge
A breach of bail is not just a standalone offence — it has significant flow-on effects for the charge you were originally on bail for: The prosecution will use it at sentencing. When the underlying charge comes before the court for sentencing, the prosecution will point to the breach as evidence that you failed to comply with court orders. This weakens the mitigating case — particularly any…
What Changes the Bail Outcome After a Breach
The nature of the breach. A missed court date due to a genuine misunderstanding is treated differently from a deliberate contact with the complainant in a DV matter. The more serious the breach, the harder the bail application. The explanation. A credible, supported explanation — a medical emergency, a genuine error about the court date, a family crisis — helps. An explanation that the court…