Victoria has ditched plans to give children the presumption of bail – the state government’s second U-turn on the youth justice reform in months – and will trial electronic monitoring bracelets instead.

The government last year committed to wind back bail laws that landed vulnerable people in prison for minor crimes they had not yet been found guilty of — in a reform the Victorian Coroner called for — but then delayed changes specifically designed to reduce the number of children remanded behind bars.

At the time, Attorney-General Jaclyn Symes said she did not want to create a debate about “a youth crime crisis that doesn’t exist” and said the government would still remove the “reverse onus test” for children in almost all cases under a separate youth justice bill due to be introduced this year.

But on Wednesday, she announced the government had dumped the policy, incensing Aboriginal law and human rights advocates.

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Under the reverse onus test, people accused of a wide range of offences have to prove “compelling reasons” and “exceptional circumstances” to be granted bail.

The Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS) said the government had betrayed Aboriginal children in a “backwards and archaic” step that ignored the truth-telling Yoorrook Justice Commission.

The legal service said it had been negotiating with the government in good faith for five years.

It questioned how Victoria could walk down the path of treaty with a government “so willing to walk away from their commitments”.