Socialite and reality TV figure Brynne Edelsten has been charged with drug offences including alleged trafficking of a commercial quantity of methamphetamine, after police searched her inner Melbourne home and the case returned to court so her mother could post a $5000 surety.
Edelsten,42 faced the Melbourne Magistrates Court on Wednesday, January 7 for a bail variation hearing relating to the nine alleged drug offences laid against her late last month.
Police allege Edelsten trafficked a commercial quantity of methamphetamine and had in her possession other drugs, including ketamine, 1,4-Butanediol and vials of steroids. She has not yet entered pleas to the charges.
Police charged Edelsten on December 30 following a search of her Fitzroy home in Melbourne’s inner north.
She was granted bail but the matter returned to court this week so her mother Mariel Gordon could provide the surety to finalise the bail arrangements.
Bail conditions include reporting to a police station three times a week and surrendering her passport on condition that she would not travel overseas while the case proceeds.
Edelsten did not respond to the questions reporters threw at her when she left court along with her lawyer and her mother.
Surety means the amount of money one posts to secure an accused person’s release, provided by another person.
This surety may be forfeited in case the accused fails to show up in court or breaches bail.
The “commercial quantity” label matters because Victoria’s drug trafficking laws differentiate offences by the quantity alleged, with higher tiers carrying tougher maximum penalties.
Sentencing authorities have noted that trafficking in a commercial quantity is an indictable offence carrying a maximum of 25 years imprisonment and a fine.
For alleged offending after March, it is also classified as a category of offence where courts must impose a custodial sentence on conviction unless particular circumstances apply.
As an indictable offense any dispute over the case would normally go before a higher court, following preliminary hearings in the Magistrates Court.
Initially these are usually administrative where the prosecution can verify the charges it wants to pursue as well as the evidence, while granting the defendant time to investigate the allegations.
However Edelsten is set to appear in court again in April for a committal mention which is a procedural court appearance that may set a timetable and fix what is in dispute before the case progresses.
A court update occurs as Victoria presses ahead with changes to bail laws with the current settings having been the subject of sustained debate.
A statement from the state’s government has announced: “The proposed uplift changes are expected to begin in the first quarter of 2026, subject to capacity in prisons and youth justice services with some exclusion clauses designed to ensure less serious offending remains outside of the harsh environments.”
Edelsten emerged as a popular personality on Australian celebrity press after she married businessman and former GP then billionaire, Geoffrey Edelsten, in 2009.
This issue is still before the Melbourne Magistrates Court and has a hearing scheduled for a Committal Mention in April.