TAS Court Lists

About Tasmania Court Listings

Tasmania runs one of the most compact yet heavily worked court systems in the country, and knowing where a matter is listed on any given day is the difference between arriving prepared and missing a hearing entirely. Because the island state has only two tiers of general courts rather than the three-tier structure used on the mainland, the daily listings published for Tasmania carry more weight than most people realise. A single Magistrates Court sitting can move through dozens of criminal mentions, civil claims, family violence applications and youth matters before lunch, and the Supreme Court schedule can shift as juries are empanelled and trials run long. This page brings every Tasmanian daily law list into one place so practitioners, defendants, witnesses, journalists and support workers can check what is happening across Hobart, Launceston, Devonport and Burnie without navigating multiple government portals.

The scale of activity is easy to underestimate for a state of roughly 573,000 people. According to the Magistrates Court of Tasmania Annual Report 2024-25, the court handled more than 37,000 new cases and recorded 205,298 individual listings across the year, making it the busiest court in the state by a wide margin. That workload is carried by 17 magistrates and more than 70 staff spread across four registries. Adult criminal lodgements rose 14.8 per cent year on year, while adult criminal breach applications climbed 22.9 per cent, and the civil division took in 2,711 new claims, the majority of them debt recovery matters. Those numbers translate directly into longer daily lists, which is exactly why a reliable, searchable set of Tasmania court lists has become a practical necessity rather than a convenience.

How the Tasmanian court system is structured

Tasmania is unusual among Australian jurisdictions because it has no District Court or County Court sitting between the lowest and highest courts. The entire general system rests on two pillars: the Magistrates Court of Tasmania and the Supreme Court of Tasmania. This two-tier design means the Magistrates Court hears a broader spread of matters than its mainland equivalents, and the Supreme Court works as both the principal trial court for the most serious offences and the state's final court of appeal. Understanding which court holds your matter is the first step to reading the correct daily list, because the two courts publish their schedules separately and use different divisions.

The Magistrates Court of Tasmania

The Magistrates Court is the day-to-day workhorse of Tasmanian justice. Established under the Magistrates Court Act 1987, it sits permanently in four centres and runs circuit sittings to smaller communities such as Smithton, Queenstown, Currie, St Helens, Scottsdale and Whitemark. Magistrates hear matters without a jury across several divisions, and appeals from the Magistrates Court in all matters go to a single judge of the Supreme Court. The Chief Magistrate, Catherine Geason, has led the court since October 2016, supported by a Deputy Chief Magistrate and the full bench of magistrates.

The court's jurisdiction is divided into distinct streams that each generate their own daily listings:

• Criminal Division: simple offences and committal proceedings for indictable offences, bail applications and sentencing.
• Civil Division: disputes up to $50,000, or an unlimited amount with the consent of both parties, with claims up to $5,000 dealt with as minor civil claims under a simplified procedure.
• Youth Justice Division: simple and indictable offences involving young people under the Youth Justice Act 1997.
• Children's Division: child safety responsibilities under the Children, Young Persons and Their Families Act 1997.
• Coronial Division: inquests and investigations into reportable deaths and fires, listed on a statewide basis.
• Administrative Appeals Division: reviews of certain administrative decisions.

The Supreme Court of Tasmania

The Supreme Court of Tasmania was established in 1824 at the foundation of the colony, making it one of the oldest courts in Australia. It exercises unlimited civil and criminal jurisdiction and hears the most serious offences, including murder, manslaughter, serious sexual offences, armed robbery, major drug trafficking and complex fraud, tried before a judge and jury. The court has a principal registry at Salamanca Place in Hobart and district registries in Launceston and Burnie, with judges travelling on circuit to hear trials in the north and north-west. Its Court of Criminal Appeal and Court of Appeal, which sit only in Hobart with a bench of three judges, hear appeals from the Magistrates Court, the Tasmanian Civil and Administrative Tribunal and single judges of the Supreme Court itself. The Tasmania Supreme Court list is the place to track criminal trials, sentence hearings, major civil trials, probate applications and appeals.

Tasmania's four permanent court centres

Each of the state's four registries serves a defined region, and each publishes separate criminal and civil lists on sitting days. Knowing the correct address and division saves a wasted trip, because criminal and civil matters are often heard in different courtrooms or on different floors.

Hobart

Hobart is the administrative heart of the Tasmanian court system and the busiest sitting location in the state. The Hobart Magistrates Court operates from 23-25 Liverpool Street and handles criminal and civil matters, family violence orders, youth justice, coronial proceedings and administrative appeals. The Supreme Court Complex sits nearby at Salamanca Place, a building recognised with the 25 Year Award for Enduring Architecture in 2010 and added to the Tasmanian Heritage Register in 2023. Anyone following southern matters will most often be checking the Hobart court list for the day's mentions and hearings.

Launceston

Launceston is the principal court centre for the north of the state, operating from 73-76 Charles Street. It hears criminal and civil matters and administers circuit sittings at Scottsdale, St Helens and Whitemark on Flinders Island. The Supreme Court maintains a district registry here for trials and circuit sittings. For northern matters, the Launceston criminal court list is updated for each sitting day and remains one of the most frequently searched Tasmanian listings.

Burnie

Burnie serves the north-west coast from 38 Alexander Street and administers circuit courts at Currie on King Island, Queenstown and Smithton. Both the Magistrates Court and the Supreme Court sit in Burnie, and the north-west has been a focus of recent judicial resourcing, including the appointment of a permanent Supreme Court judge based predominantly in the region. The Burnie court list attracts strong demand from local practitioners and the public, reflecting the volume of coastal matters.

Devonport

Devonport rounds out the four permanent centres, sitting at 8 Griffith Street and serving the central north-west. It hears both criminal and civil matters and works closely with the Burnie registry on regional administration. The Devonport court list is checked daily by lawyers, defendants and family members needing to confirm courtroom allocations and sitting times.

What appears on a Tasmanian daily court list

A daily law list is a scheduling document, not a record of outcomes. It tells you which matters are set down before which magistrate or judge, in which courtroom, and at what time. Reading one correctly means understanding the shorthand courts use. A typical Tasmanian list will show the party names, the matter type, the courtroom or list number, the listing time and often an abbreviation indicating the type of appearance. Common entries include first mentions, adjourned mentions, bail applications, pleas, sentence hearings, contested hearings, directions hearings and callovers.

Listings can and do change during the day. A matter marked for a particular time may be stood down while an earlier hearing runs over, and contested matters sometimes resolve by agreement before they are reached. For this reason the published list is best treated as a guide to the day's intended running order rather than a fixed timetable. Arriving early, confirming your courtroom with registry staff and checking the list again on the morning of the hearing are all sensible steps.

Why timeliness data makes daily lists so important in Tasmania

Tasmania has historically recorded some of the longest finalisation times in the country, and independent review has confirmed the pressure on the system. A third-party review of court backlogs found that in the 2024-25 year the Supreme Court averaged 14.3 court attendances per criminal matter before finalisation, down from 16.7 the previous year but still high by national standards, while the Magistrates Court averaged 5.7 attendances per criminal finalisation. Each of those attendances is a separate listing that appears on a daily law list. When a single matter can require more than a dozen appearances before it concludes, keeping track of the next listed date becomes central to the whole process, for the accused, for victims, for witnesses and for the lawyers managing the file.

The volume pressures are not spread evenly. The Supreme Court has periodically been consumed by lengthy trials that displace dozens of ordinary matters, and the appointment of a seventh permanent judge in November 2021 added roughly 14 per cent to the court's judicial resources specifically to address the north-west caseload. Active case management, mediation and diversion are all being used to move matters along, but the underlying reality is a small system carrying a large and growing list of work. That is precisely the environment in which a consolidated, no-login set of court lists earns its place.

Who uses Tasmania court lists

The daily lists serve a wide range of people, each with a different reason for checking them:

• Legal practitioners confirming where and when their matters are listed across multiple centres on the same day.
• Defendants and their families checking a courtroom and sitting time before attending.
• Witnesses and victims tracking the progress of a matter through mentions, hearings and sentencing.
• Legal Aid Tasmania and community legal centre staff managing caseloads that move between Hobart, Launceston, Devonport and Burnie.
• Journalists monitoring matters of public interest in open court.
• Members of the public exercising the right to observe proceedings.

Because Tasmania has no intermediate court, many people find themselves following a matter as it moves from the Magistrates Court up to the Supreme Court on appeal or committal, which is another reason a single reference point covering both tiers is genuinely useful. Anyone moving between states will also find it helpful to compare how listings work elsewhere through the national court coverage available across the wider directory.

Frequently asked questions

How many courts does Tasmania have?

Tasmania operates a two-tier general court system: the Magistrates Court and the Supreme Court. There is no District Court or County Court as there is on the mainland. Both courts sit permanently in Hobart, Launceston and Burnie, and the Magistrates Court also sits full-time in Devonport, with circuit sittings in smaller communities.

Where is the busiest court in Tasmania?

Hobart is the busiest sitting location and the administrative centre of the system. Statewide, the Magistrates Court is the busiest court overall, recording 205,298 listings and more than 37,000 new cases in 2024-25.

What is the difference between a criminal list and a civil list?

A criminal list covers charges brought against a person, including mentions, bail applications, pleas, contested hearings and sentencing. A civil list covers disputes between parties, such as debt recovery, damages claims and minor civil claims up to $5,000. Each registry publishes separate criminal and civil lists on its sitting days.

Can I attend a Tasmanian court hearing as a member of the public?

Yes. Most court proceedings are open to the public, and anyone may attend to observe unless a magistrate or judge has closed the court, which happens in limited circumstances such as certain youth, family violence or sensitive matters. After-hours courts also generally admit the public, subject to security screening.

How often are Tasmania court lists updated?

Daily lists are published for each sitting day and can be amended during the day as matters are stood down, brought forward or resolved. It is always worth checking the list again on the morning of the hearing and confirming the courtroom with registry staff.

Which court hears appeals in Tasmania?

Appeals from the Magistrates Court go to a single judge of the Supreme Court. Appeals from single judges of the Supreme Court, and certain appeals from TASCAT, go to the Court of Appeal or Court of Criminal Appeal, which sit with three judges in Hobart only.