The state government will introduce what it labels "the toughest bail laws in Australia" to Parliament today in a move aimed at preventing reoffending and keeping Victorians safe.

Premier Jacinta Allan announced the "tough bail laws" would jolt the system in an announcement on Wednesday.
She said the laws would: put community safety above all in bail decisions and remove the principle of remand as a "last resort"; create the toughest bail laws ever for serious offences, including a new bail test to target repeat offenders for the worst crimes; and, ensure respect for the rules with new bail offences, including a second-strike rule.
In addition, Ms Allan said the government also would ban machetes to crack down on knife crime.
During an industrial stop work action last year, Victoria Police staff at Warragul Police Station provided a snapshot of police life. Amongst their concerns were youth crime and lack of consequences for offenders.
Leading senior constable Glenn Redenbach said repeat, high-impact youth criminals were causing "massive harm to the community."
"We're in the middle of a youth crime epidemic. It's never been as bad."
He said a youth who broke into a house, causing psychological distress to the victim, normally only received a caution.
"They are being given a piece of paper warning not to continue."
"The victims of all these crimes are not being heard," he said.
One such victim, a woman who had her car stolen during an aggravated burglary in Warragul last year, told The Gazette her life had changed and it appeared those charged for the crime hadn't faced any real consequences.
She spoke out anonymously to highlight the emotional trauma that victims of crime faced.
"They don't understand the full impact of what this has done to me," she said. "I will be scarred by this forever and they need to be made responsible."
"They need to see that emotionally it matters. They could have done anything to me."
The Gazette has reported on two men who applied for bail in the past six months.
One man, a 27-year-old from Drouin, was bailed in November after being arrested and charged by Baw Baw CIU detectives in relation to rape charges and a Drouin home invasion.
The man was remanded to appear at Latrobe Valley Magistrates' Court. However, despite the court being told he was an "unacceptable risk" and had a "poor history of bail compliance", the man was bailed with curfew conditions.
A second man, a 26-year-old from Warragul, was refused bail in early January after facing seven charges, including burglary and theft.
Facing Latrobe Valley Magistrates' Court, the court was told he was subject to a 12-month community corrections order at the time of the alleged offending, had been bailed on eight occasions between November 7 and December 21 and had shown "complete disregard for court orders".
The magistrate said crimes of which he was accused, particularly aggravated burglaries, had caused "enormous" damage within the community. He was refused bail.
Machetes have featured in several crimes in recent months in Baw Baw.
Local police have previously acknowledged knife crime creeping in from metropolitan areas but reassured the community that such incidents were isolated.
In late January, a 15-year-old youth was quickly arrested after allegedly holding a machete towards a 14-year-old whilst demanding a mobile phone outside McDonalds in Warragul.
A machete was allegedly used in an aggravated carjacking and assault in a carpark off Trumpy Lane in Warragul in September.
And, last month, a machete was found and handed into police after being found in a Drouin park.