VIC Bail and Remand Court / Magistrates Court List Today

The Bail and Remand Court (BaRC) at the Melbourne Magistrates' Court is the busiest after-hours criminal jurisdiction in Victoria, and this page gives you a live daily court list for it alongside the practical background you need before you attend. Whether you are a defendant, a family member, a bail guarantor, a legal practitioner or a journalist, the daily list published here lets you confirm whether a matter is scheduled, which courtroom it sits in and when it is likely to be called. Because BaRC deals with people who are in custody, timing matters more here than almost anywhere else in the Victorian court system, so the information below is designed to help you plan the day accurately.

What the Bail and Remand Court in Victoria actually does

The Bail and Remand Court hears applications for bail and decisions about remand for accused people who have been taken into custody, generally after being refused bail by police. When Victoria Police decline to grant bail at a police station, they are required to bring the accused person before a magistrate within a reasonable time. If a local Magistrates' Court is not open or it is not practical to attend one, the matter is routed to the centralised bail and remand list in Melbourne, where a magistrate or judicial registrar decides whether the person is released on bail with conditions or remanded in custody until their next hearing.

This court is a specialist stream rather than a separate building. It operates inside the Melbourne Magistrates' Court at 233 William Street, Melbourne VIC 3000, using dedicated courtrooms set aside for custody matters. The Bail and Remand Court commenced on 30 April 2018 in response to Recommendation 29 of the Coghlan Review, expanding the night and weekend court operations that had been introduced in January 2017. Since then it has become the single point through which a large share of Victoria's overnight and weekend custody decisions flow.

Bail and Remand Court hours and sitting times

One of the most searched questions about this jurisdiction is simply when it sits. The Bail and Remand Court runs seven days a week, including public holidays, which sets it apart from ordinary suburban and regional courts that operate on standard weekday hours. Court Services Victoria advises that the Bail and Remand Court operates between 10:00am and 9:00pm each day, and the Melbourne Magistrates' Court practice direction confirms an extended evening session in the bail and remand courtrooms up to 9:00pm, compared with the usual 10:00am to 4:00pm sitting hours for other courtrooms at the venue. Registry and screening access at the building begins earlier in the morning, so arriving well before the listed time is sensible.

• Days of operation: seven days a week, including public holidays.
• Sitting hours: generally 10:00am to 9:00pm, with an evening session unique to the bail and remand courtrooms.
• Location: Melbourne Magistrates' Court, 233 William Street, Melbourne VIC 3000.
• Custody centre: the Melbourne Custody Centre sits beneath the court building and handles roughly 22,000 prisoner movements each year.

Because listings can change at short notice, always confirm the current day's schedule from the live list on this page before travelling. On some dates, custody matters at Melbourne and the Bail and Remand Court are heard online only, so checking the list first can save you a wasted trip into the CBD.

How to read the daily Bail and Remand Court list

The daily list is essentially a timetable of the matters being heard that day. Each entry typically shows the party's name, the listing type and the courtroom, and the matters are ordered so that court staff, prosecutors and duty lawyers can manage the flow of custody cases efficiently. If you cannot find a name, it may mean the matter has been adjourned, moved to another venue, or transferred to an online-only session. Family violence intervention order and personal safety intervention order hearings are not published in the general hearing search, which is a deliberate privacy protection rather than an omission.

Why remand volumes make this court so significant

The pressure on the Bail and Remand Court reflects a broader shift in Victoria's justice system. Unsentenced prisoners, people held on remand before their matter is finalised, have grown from a small minority of the prison population to a very large share. In 2013, only 17.9 per cent of all people in prison in Victoria were unsentenced. By June 2022 that figure had climbed to 42.2 per cent, and the proportion has remained near or above that level since. In other words, roughly two in five people behind bars in Victoria have not been sentenced, which places the bail decision at the centre of the state's incarceration story.

The national picture underlines the trend. According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, the number of adult prisoners on remand across Australia rose to 18,036 people in 2024, an increase of 13 per cent in a single year, and remandees made up 41 per cent of all prisoners, up from 38 per cent the year before. Victoria has been part of that upward movement. From June 2024 to June 2025, Victoria's prison population recorded 592 more unsentenced prisoners, a 30 per cent jump, according to analysis reported through the Sentencing Advisory Council.

Legislative change continues to shape demand for this court. The first tranche of Victoria's tougher bail reforms commenced on 26 March 2025, tightening the bail tests for people charged with certain offences and for those alleged to have offended while already on bail. Victoria's Police Minister later stated that the changes had led to 84 per cent more people being denied bail, and bail applications to the Magistrates' Court increased 18.4 per cent over a twelve-month period, driven by more refusals and revocations. Each of those refusals ultimately feeds into remand and bail listings like the one published here.

Who takes part in a bail and remand hearing

The Bail and Remand Court model was built around bringing key agencies together in one place. On any given sitting you may find Victoria Police prosecutors, Victoria Legal Aid duty lawyers, Protective Services Officers, Community Correctional Services staff and the Court Integrated Services Program (CISP). CISP case managers can undertake assessments and offer an on-call service to magistrates and judicial registrars who are weighing treatment options, referrals and system navigation for an accused person. That wraparound structure exists because bail decisions frequently involve mental health, housing, substance dependency and disability, and the court is expected to weigh public safety alongside individual circumstances.

Bail conditions, guarantors and deposits explained

Bail can be granted with special conditions or with no conditions at all. The Bail Act 1977 contains a list of common conditions, but the police, a bail justice or the court can also impose conditions that do not appear in the Act where they are considered appropriate. Understanding these obligations before a hearing helps accused people and their families prepare realistic proposals.

• Undertaking of bail: a written promise to appear at court on a specified date to answer the charges.
• Special conditions: curfews, reporting to a police station, residence requirements, non-contact conditions and surrender of a passport are among the conditions a court may attach.
• Bail guarantor (surety): a person who pledges money or assets to secure the accused's attendance; if the accused fails to appear, the guarantor may forfeit that money or have assets sold to recover the promised amount.
• Deposit: security paid by the accused person, made by cash or bank cheque payable to the Magistrates Court of Victoria; personal cheques and electronic transfers are not accepted.

Where a property is offered to support a bail guarantee, the court generally requires supporting documents such as a current land title search completed within the preceding two business days, a current council rates notice showing the capital improved value, and current mortgage documents. Anyone considering acting as a guarantor should obtain legal advice first, because the financial exposure is real and enforceable.

Special protections for vulnerable accused people

Victorian bail law recognises that a one-size-fits-all approach can cause harm. There are different requirements for an accused person who is an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person, a vulnerable adult, or a person under the age of 18. These provisions matter because remand growth has fallen unevenly across the community. Aboriginal people in Victoria are incarcerated at around 18 times the rate of non-Aboriginal people, and the number of unsentenced Indigenous women entering prison each year has grown dramatically over the past decade. For young people, after-hours bail and remand decisions are handled through a separate specialist stream rather than the adult Bail and Remand Court, reflecting the additional safeguards that apply to children.

Getting to the Melbourne Magistrates' Court

The court is well served by public transport in the Melbourne CBD, which is the most reliable way to arrive on time given limited parking. Trams stop directly outside the William Street entrance, Flagstaff Station is a short walk away, and bus stops are located nearby on the corner of William and Lonsdale Streets. Only metered street parking and multi-level car parks are available in the surrounding blocks, with no visitor parking on the premises. Airport-style security screening applies at the entrance, so allow extra time to pass through the scanners, particularly during busy morning custody sessions.

If you are attending a matter elsewhere in the state, it is worth confirming which venue your listing sits at, since suburban and regional courts run their own lists. You can browse listings across the state through the Victorian court lists hub, review general criminal and civil matters at the Melbourne Magistrates' Court daily list, and track indictable matters that have been committed upward at the County Court of Victoria. For matters moving through the assessment and referral stream, the Dandenong ARC list is a useful comparison point for how specialist lists are structured.

Frequently asked questions about the Bail and Remand Court

What time does the Bail and Remand Court in Melbourne open?

The court sits seven days a week, including public holidays, and generally operates between 10:00am and 9:00pm, with an evening session that is unique to the bail and remand courtrooms. Building access and security screening begin earlier in the morning, so arrive with time to spare.

Is the Bail and Remand Court a separate building?

No. It is a specialist courtroom stream inside the Melbourne Magistrates' Court at 233 William Street, Melbourne. It uses dedicated courtrooms for custody, bail and remand matters rather than sitting at a different address.

How do I find out if someone is listed for bail today?

Check the live daily list published on this page for the current day's matters, then confirm the courtroom shown against the entry. If a name is missing, the matter may have been adjourned, transferred to another venue, or moved to an online-only session.

What happens if bail is refused?

If bail is refused, the accused person is remanded in custody as an unsentenced prisoner until their next court hearing or trial, unless and until a fresh application for bail is made and granted. A refusal is not necessarily the end of the process, because a further application can be made later.

Can I attend a bail hearing as a member of the public?

Most bail and remand hearings are open to the public, though some matters and lists carry reporting or publication restrictions, and intervention order hearings are not published in the general list. Members of the public should follow standard courtroom etiquette and pass through security screening on entry.

Who can help an accused person apply for bail?

An accused person can ask for a lawyer to help prepare a bail application, and Victoria Legal Aid duty lawyers are typically available at the court. Support services such as the Court Integrated Services Program can also assist magistrates in considering treatment and referral options for eligible people.

The daily list above is your starting point for the Bail and Remand Court, but the underlying decisions it records carry real weight for individuals, families and the wider community. With remand now accounting for a large share of Victoria's prison population and bail law under continual reform, keeping an accurate, up-to-date view of the day's listings is more useful than ever. Bookmark this page, check it before you travel, and use the linked Victorian court lists to follow a matter as it moves between courts.