QLD Tully Magistrates Court List Today

The Tully Magistrates Court list is the fastest way to confirm where and when a matter is being heard at the Tully courthouse, located at 46 Bryant Street, Tully QLD 4854, in the Cassowary Coast Regional Council area of Far North Queensland. Sitting roughly 141 kilometres south of Cairns and 208 kilometres north-north-west of Townsville along the Bruce Highway, Tully is a compact sugar-milling town of about 2,368 residents (2021 Census) that serves a much larger rural catchment of cane farms, banana plantations and surrounding communities. The Magistrates Court here is the first tier of the Queensland court system, and for most people in the district it is the first, and often only, court they will ever attend. This page helps you track the daily law list, understand what is heard at Tully, and plan your visit with confidence.

The Queensland Courts daily law list for Tully is refreshed on the official portal at courts.qld.gov.au at 6:45am each court day and again at 8:45am to account for overnight arrests and bail matters. Because listings can move between the first and second publication, and occasionally on the morning itself, it is worth checking again shortly before you leave home. The same lists are available through the free Queensland Courts app on both Android and iOS, so you can confirm your courtroom and start time on the go rather than relying on a printout that may already be out of date.

What the Tully Magistrates Court list covers

As a Magistrates Court, Tully deals with the broad base of the state's judicial workload. Across Queensland, the Magistrates Courts handle the overwhelming majority of all criminal matters at first instance, and Tully is no exception. A single magistrate presides, and the maximum penalty a magistrate can impose is three years imprisonment (rising to four years when sitting as the Drug and Alcohol Court). The daily law list at Tully typically includes a mix of the following proceedings.

• Summary criminal offences such as public nuisance, minor assaults, stealing and drug possession.
• Traffic matters, including drink driving, unlicensed driving and speeding infringements that have been elected for court.
• Domestic and family violence protection order applications, a significant part of the workload in regional Queensland courts.
• Committal hearings, where the magistrate assesses whether the evidence is strong enough to send a serious (indictable) charge to a higher court.
• Civil disputes within the Magistrates Court monetary limit, along with minor debt and consumer claims.
• Bail applications, sentence hearings and mentions, which make up a large share of any given sitting day.

More serious indictable offences, such as those requiring a jury trial, are not finalised at Tully. They are committed to the District Court or the Supreme Court, which for this part of the state sit at regional centres including Cairns. If your matter is being escalated, the higher-court schedule is tracked separately on the Innisfail Supreme and District Court list, which serves the Cassowary Coast for jury trials and higher sentencing.

Contact details and registry hours

The Tully court registry is the point of contact for filing documents, paying fines, lodging applications and general enquiries. Note that the registry counter keeps shorter and slightly different hours to the courthouse building, and that a daily lunch closure applies.

• Address: 46 Bryant Street, Tully QLD 4854 (postal: PO Box 229, Tully QLD 4854)
• Phone: (07) 4063 5534
• Email: courthouse.tully@justice.qld.gov.au
• Registry hours: 8:30am to 12:00pm and 1:00pm to 4:30pm on Monday, Tuesday and Friday; 9:30am to 12:00pm and 1:00pm to 4:30pm on Wednesday; and 8:30am to 4:30pm on Thursday

A volunteer Justice of the Peace service also operates from the ground floor registry, generally on Wednesday and Friday between 9am and 4pm, which is useful if you need a document witnessed or a statutory declaration signed while you are attending court. Because Tully is a smaller registry, some transport and licensing services that are bundled into the courthouse are not offered every day, so phoning ahead on (07) 4063 5534 to confirm before you drive in can save a wasted trip.

A heritage courthouse still doing its original job

The building that houses the Tully Magistrates Court is itself a piece of Queensland history. The Tully Court House was designed in 1941 by Nigel Laman Thomas of the Queensland Department of Public Works and constructed between 1941 and 1945, its completion delayed by the outbreak of the Second World War. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 24 September 1999. The courthouse is a low-set, T-shaped masonry building wrapped in timber verandahs, designed to suit the wet tropical climate, and it has been in continuous use as a courthouse and public office since 1945. Few working courts in Australia have served their community without interruption for eight decades, which gives the Tully list a genuine sense of local continuity.

The court's origins run deeper still. Tully was gazetted as a place for holding Courts of Petty Session in 1926, initially operating from a former post office building relocated from nearby Banyan until the present courthouse opened. That civic role grew alongside the town itself, which expanded rapidly after the Tully Sugar Mill was built in 1924 and the railway reached the district. The court remains part of a cluster of law and order buildings that mark the early civic heart of the town.

Understanding Tully in its regional context

Tully's identity is shaped by its extraordinary climate. The town holds the Australian record for the highest annual rainfall recorded in a populated area, with 7,900 millimetres falling in 1950, and it averages more than 4,000 millimetres of rain each year, roughly four times Brisbane's annual total. That record is celebrated by the 7.9 metre Golden Gumboot monument on the main street, whose height matches the 1950 rainfall figure in metres. For court users this is not just trivia: heavy wet-season weather and cyclones, such as Cyclone Yasi which struck Tully in February 2011, can affect road access along the Bruce Highway and occasionally disrupt sitting arrangements, so allow extra travel time during the wet.

The town sits within the state electorates of Hill and Hinchinbrook and the federal division of Kennedy, and its economy is anchored by the Tully Sugar Mill and surrounding banana and cane farming. This agricultural, working-age community (median age around 38) generates the everyday mix of traffic, licensing and summary matters that fill a regional Magistrates Court list. Understanding that context helps explain why Tully's list looks different to a metropolitan court's: it is smaller, more personal, and closely tied to the rhythms of farm and mill life.

How to read and prepare for the daily law list

When you open the Tully daily law list, each entry generally shows the party or defendant name, the listing type (for example mention, hearing, sentence or callover), the courtroom and the scheduled time. A "mention" is a brief administrative appearance rather than a full hearing, and many first appearances are listed this way. If your name appears, arrive early, dress respectfully, and be ready for your matter to be called at a different time to the one listed, as magistrates often work through shorter mentions before longer contested matters.

A few practical tips make the day run more smoothly.

• Check twice. Look at the list the evening before if the District or Supreme material is relevant, and again after 8:45am on the day for the Magistrates list.
• Confirm the courtroom. Even in a single-courtroom regional venue, circuit and specialist arrangements can change where a matter is heard.
• Bring your paperwork. Any brief of evidence, bail undertaking or correspondence from the registry should come with you.
• Consider legal advice. A conviction, even at the Magistrates level, can carry long-term consequences for licensing, travel and employment.

Nearby courts on the Cassowary Coast and Far North

Tully is part of a network of courts serving Far North Queensland, and it is common for matters, practitioners and even magistrates to move between them. The closest neighbour is the Innisfail Magistrates Court, about an hour north at 10 Edith Street, which acts as the commercial and administrative hub of the Cassowary Coast and handles a larger volume of the same criminal, traffic and domestic violence work. Further north, the Cairns Magistrates Court is one of the busiest regional courts in the state and the principal venue for the wider Far North region.

If you are unsure which venue your matter is listed at, or you are tracking several courts at once, the consolidated QLD court lists today page lets you search Magistrates, District and Supreme Court listings across every Queensland location in one place. This is particularly helpful for legal practitioners and family members coordinating appearances across multiple towns on the same day.

Frequently asked questions

What time is the Tully Magistrates Court list published?

The Queensland Courts daily law list is updated on courts.qld.gov.au at 6:45am and again at 8:45am on each court day. The second update captures overnight arrests and bail matters, so the 8:45am version is the most reliable one to check before attending.

Where exactly is the Tully courthouse?

The court is at 46 Bryant Street, Tully QLD 4854, in the town centre and a short walk from the Golden Gumboot and main shops. Postal correspondence goes to PO Box 229, Tully QLD 4854.

What kinds of cases are heard at Tully?

Tully hears summary criminal offences, traffic and drink driving matters, domestic and family violence applications, committal hearings, bail applications, sentences and civil disputes within the Magistrates Court limit. Serious indictable matters are committed to the District or Supreme Court sitting at regional centres such as Cairns.

Do I need a lawyer to appear at Tully Magistrates Court?

You are not required to have a lawyer, and many people appear self-represented for minor matters. However, because even a Magistrates Court conviction can have lasting effects, seeking legal advice is strongly recommended for anything beyond a simple traffic infringement.

Can I check the Tully list on my phone?

Yes. The free Queensland Courts app for Android and iOS carries the same daily law lists as the website, so you can confirm your courtroom and listing time from anywhere before heading to court.

Why might my matter not appear on the Tully list?

Listings can move between the morning updates, be adjourned to another date, be transferred to a neighbouring court such as Innisfail, or be subject to a non-publication order. If your matter is missing, contact the registry on (07) 4063 5534 to confirm its status.