The Heidelberg ARC Magistrates' Court list is the daily record of matters listed before the Assessment and Referral Court (ARC) division sitting at Heidelberg Magistrates' Court, Jika Street, Heidelberg, Victoria 3084. The ARC is a specialist, pre-sentence therapeutic court stream that operates within the mainstream Magistrates' Court, so its listings appear alongside general criminal matters on the daily schedule. If you are an accused person, a family member, a lawyer, a support worker or a service provider tracking an upcoming ARC hearing, this page helps you confirm the sitting date, the venue and the status of a matter before the court.
Unlike a general criminal list, the ARC list follows a solution focused model. The Assessment and Referral Court supports accused people who are living with a diagnosed mental illness or a cognitive impairment, and it aims to address the underlying causes of offending rather than moving straight to punishment. Participation is voluntary, the accused must plead guilty, and the process is supervised directly by an ARC magistrate. Because of this therapeutic structure, ARC listings at Heidelberg run differently from the standard mention and hearing lists, and understanding how the stream works makes the daily list far easier to interpret.
What the Heidelberg ARC Court List Covers
The Assessment and Referral Court formally commenced in the Magistrates' Court of Victoria in March 2010, with the first sitting day held on 21 April 2010. It began as a single list at the Melbourne Magistrates' Court and has since expanded across the state. Heidelberg is one of the venues rolling out the ARC as part of a program to establish the court at all 12 headquarter magistrates' courts in Victoria over a three year period. This expansion is designed to widen access to therapeutic justice, particularly for people in regional and outer metropolitan areas who previously had to travel to the city.
The Heidelberg ARC list sits within a full service headquarter court that serves Melbourne's north eastern corridor, including the Banyule, Nillumbik and Whittlesea communities. The court operates Monday to Friday from 9:00am to 4:30pm and is closed on weekends and public holidays. Alongside the ARC, the Heidelberg registry hosts other specialist functions including the Court Integrated Services Program (CISP) and a dedicated intervention order registry, which means a person's ARC matter may sit within a broader network of coordinated support services at the same venue.
Who the Assessment and Referral Court Is For
To be eligible for the ARC, an accused person must be diagnosed with a mental illness, an intellectual disability, an acquired brain injury, an autism spectrum disorder or a neurological impairment such as dementia. The diagnosis must cause a substantially reduced capacity in at least one area of self care, self management, social interaction or communication. The person must also be likely to benefit from coordinated support services, must plead guilty, and must consent to participate, including consenting to the sharing of information between service providers.
The accused must be charged with a criminal offence committed within the catchment area, known as the proper venue, of an ARC. In most cases the person needs to be on bail to take part, although a referral can be made while a person is in custody if release is likely. Because the criteria are specific, many matters that appear on the Heidelberg daily list are still working through the assessment stage rather than being confirmed ARC participants.
How a Referral Into ARC Works
A referral into the Assessment and Referral Court can be made by almost anyone connected to the matter. This includes the accused person, their family, community service organisations, magistrates, Victoria Police, lawyers or CISP staff. A referral and adjournment into the ARC should be made at the earliest possible opportunity, which can occur at a bail hearing or a mention hearing. Contested bail hearings, by contrast, remain in the mainstream court.
- Confirm the offence was committed within an ARC catchment area.
- Check the eligibility criteria for the ARC.
- Seek a referral and complete the relevant referral form for the court.
- Provide the ARC with diagnostic evidence.
- Attend an assessment with an ARC clinician or case manager.
- Attend court for the ARC hearing.
Once a person is accepted, a formal plea must be entered before an individual support plan is approved. That plan sets out the goals to be worked on during the ARC episode. The participant then appears before the ARC magistrate on a regular basis to discuss their progress. If they do not comply with the plan, the magistrate can transfer the matter back to the mainstream court for sentencing.
Why the ARC Model Matters
The strength of the ARC lies in how hearings are run. In the ARC list, the magistrate, the prosecution, support staff, the accused person and their family typically sit at the same table. The individual support plan is reviewed and progress is explained in plain English. This collaborative format is a deliberate departure from the adversarial style of a standard criminal hearing, and it is central to the therapeutic jurisprudence approach that underpins Victoria's specialist courts.
Research supports the model. An Australian recidivism study of the ARC List drew on de-identified data from the Magistrates' Court of Victoria collected between April 2008 and April 2014. It found that successful program completion was the single most significant predictor of not reoffending, or of taking longer to reoffend, ahead of factors such as gender and pre-program offence severity. A separate two year study of participants diagnosed with borderline personality disorder found that successful completion of the list reduced recidivism for around half of that group, and also reduced the severity of later offending. These findings help explain why Victoria continues to invest in expanding the ARC to courts like Heidelberg.
For context, Victoria has historically recorded one of the lowest recidivism rates in the country. Corrections Victoria data for 2021 to 2022 reported the rate of sentenced prisoners returning to prison within two years at 37.7 per cent under updated national counting rules, an improvement on the previous year's figure of 43.6 per cent. Diversionary and therapeutic streams such as the ARC are part of the broader effort to keep those numbers moving in the right direction by tackling the drivers of offending before sentencing occurs.
Checking the Heidelberg ARC List and Related Courts
ARC lists operate at multiple venues across Victoria, including Melbourne, Dandenong, Frankston, Heidelberg, Moorabbin, Sunshine, Broadmeadows, Ringwood, Ballarat, Bendigo, Latrobe Valley and Shepparton. If your matter is a general criminal or civil one rather than an ARC hearing, you may instead need the standard Heidelberg Magistrates Court list, which covers the full range of summary and indictable matters at the same Jika Street venue. For matters at nearby venues, the Broadmeadows Magistrates Court list and the Ringwood Magistrates Court list are also worth checking, as both operate their own ARC streams. You can browse every sitting venue in the state through the Victoria court lists hub.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is the ARC list the same as the general Heidelberg criminal list?
No. The ARC is a separate pre-sentence therapeutic stream for people with a diagnosed mental illness or cognitive impairment. General summary and indictable matters are listed on the mainstream Heidelberg Magistrates' Court list.
Do I have to plead guilty to enter the ARC?
Yes. Entering a guilty plea and consenting to participate, including the sharing of information between services, are core eligibility requirements. Participation is entirely voluntary.
Who can make a referral into the Heidelberg ARC?
A referral can be made by the accused person, their family, lawyers, magistrates, Victoria Police, CISP staff or community service organisations, and should be made as early as possible in the proceeding.
What happens if a participant does not comply with their support plan?
The ARC magistrate can transfer the matter back to the mainstream court for sentencing if the individual support plan is not followed.
When does Heidelberg Magistrates' Court sit?
The court operates Monday to Friday from 9:00am to 4:30pm and is closed on weekends and public holidays.