WA District Court Building List Today

The District Court Building at 500 Hay Street, Perth is the working home of the District Court of Western Australia, the state's intermediate trial court and the venue where the majority of serious indictable criminal trials in the Perth metropolitan area are heard. If you are trying to confirm whether a matter is listed, which courtroom it has been allocated, or what time an accused is due to appear, the daily court list for this building is the fastest way to find it. This page brings together the current listings for the District Court Building alongside the practical and verified information you need to make sense of them, so you spend less time navigating portals and more time getting the answer you came for.

The District Court sits between the Magistrates Court and the Supreme Court in the Western Australian court hierarchy. It was established on 1 April 1970 to relieve the growing caseload pressure on the Supreme Court as the state's population expanded, and it opened its purpose-built headquarters at 500 Hay Street on 3 June 2008. Before that move, the Court operated from the Central Law Courts and the adjacent May Holman Centre. Understanding where a building sits in that structure matters, because it tells you what kind of matters you will find on its list and where a case travels next if it is appealed or committed upward.

What the District Court Building at 500 Hay Street hears

The District Court has both a criminal and a civil jurisdiction, and the Hay Street building is primarily configured for criminal trial work, including jury trials. In its criminal jurisdiction the Court hears serious indictable offences that must be tried before a judge and jury, or a judge sitting alone, carrying maximum penalties of up to 25 years imprisonment. Typical matters include serious and sexual assaults, robbery and assault with intent to rob, serious fraud and commercial theft, burglary, criminal damage, and drug offences. The most serious offences, such as murder, manslaughter and attempted unlawful killing, are reserved for the Supreme Court and will not appear on a District Court list.

In its civil jurisdiction the Court determines claims of up to $750,000, and it holds unlimited jurisdiction in claims for damages for personal injury regardless of the amount. It also hears a range of appeals, including appeals from the civil jurisdiction of the Magistrates Court and appeals under the Workers Compensation and Injury Management Act. Most civil matters, mediations and document lodgement for the District Court are handled through the David Malcolm Justice Centre rather than the Hay Street building, so if you are searching for a civil hearing it is worth confirming the venue on the list before you travel.

How to read a District Court daily list

A daily court list is organised by courtroom and by the judicial officer presiding, with each entry showing the party or accused name, the matter type, and the scheduled time. For criminal trials, a single entry can represent several days of sittings, because trials in this Court run over multiple days. Listings are published through the eCourts Portal of Western Australia and are searchable by name, and both current and future listings are made available there. Because allocations can shift as matters resolve, settle or are vacated, it is sensible to check the list on the morning of the hearing rather than relying on a version pulled days earlier.

If you cannot find a name you expected to see, there are a few common explanations worth ruling out before assuming an error. The matter may have been vacated or adjourned, it may be listed at a different venue such as the David Malcolm Justice Centre or a regional circuit court, or it may be suppressed. Vulnerable witness matters and certain sexual offence proceedings carry reporting and identification restrictions, which affect how and whether details appear publicly.

Inside the District Court Building

The Hay Street building was designed to meet an urgent need for more jury and video courtrooms and better facilities for everyone who uses the Court. It houses multiple jury trial courtrooms, five hearing rooms and 18 mediation conferencing rooms, along with a dedicated high-security courtroom suite and a secure high-tech detention facility. The building uses separate circulation systems so that jurors, people in custody, child and vulnerable witnesses, and the judiciary do not share the same routes through the building, which is a deliberate feature of modern courthouse design intended to protect fairness and safety.

Practical features for visitors include videoconferencing facilities, closed-circuit television and screen displays, remote witness rooms for video links, a digital audio recording system, an on-site café, and airport-style security screening at entry. If you are attending, allow extra time for the screening process, and be aware that when entering or leaving a courtroom it is customary to bow towards the judge. The building stands on the corner of Hay and Irwin Streets in the Perth CBD, and the Perth registry operates from the same address between 9:00am and 4:30pm on weekdays.

Key details at a glance

• Address: 500 Hay Street, Perth WA 6000 (corner of Hay and Irwin Streets)
• Opened: 3 June 2008 as the Court's purpose-built headquarters
• Court established: 1 April 1970
• Registry hours: 9:00am to 4:30pm, Monday to Friday
• Main function of this building: serious criminal trials, including jury trials
• Civil claim limit: up to $750,000, with unlimited jurisdiction for personal injury damages
• Appeals from: Magistrates Court of Western Australia
• Appeals to: Supreme Court of Western Australia (Court of Appeal)

The District Court by the numbers

The District Court is a substantial operation. It is served by around 30 judges based in Perth who travel on circuit to regional centres, supported by five registrars appointed under the District Court of Western Australia Act 1969. Over its first 50 years, 90 judges served on the Court, and the current Chief Judge, Julie Anne Wager, has led the Court since 2 May 2020. Beyond the Perth registry at Hay Street, the Court maintains 12 country registries at Albany, Broome, Bunbury, Busselton, Carnarvon, Derby, Esperance, Geraldton, Kalgoorlie, Karratha, Kununurra and South Hedland.

Recent caseload data shows a court system carrying real pressure. In the year to April 2024, criminal lodgements eased by 3.5 per cent to 2,699 new accused matters, yet finalisations rose 6.3 per cent to roughly 2,753 cases. Case complexity has climbed even as raw numbers dipped: drug offences increased by 13.5 per cent to 595 cases, and assault, sexual offences, robbery and extortion, and burglary together accounted for around 80 per cent of all matters. The backlog proportion of accused cases on hand grew from 27.4 per cent to 31.1 per cent, underlining why timeliness has become a central issue for the Court.

Delay figures put those pressures in context. The median time to trial across the Court sat at about 64 weeks overall, with regional trial times rising to 50 weeks. Only 32.7 per cent of metropolitan trials proceeded from their listing, down from 37 per cent, with adjournments, discontinuances and guilty pleas cited as the frequent causes of vacated trials. These numbers help explain why a matter you saw listed one week may not appear the next, and why checking the live list matters so much. For a broader view of how the District Court fits alongside the Magistrates, Supreme and Family jurisdictions across the state, the WA court listings hub gathers every tier in one place.

How this building connects to the rest of the WA court system

Most criminal matters reach the District Court by committal from the Magistrates Court after a decision that the charge is serious enough to be tried on indictment. That means the path many accused persons follow runs from a local magistrates registry, such as the Central Law Courts in Perth, up to the District Court Building for trial or sentence. If a party is dissatisfied with the outcome of a District Court decision, the next step is an appeal to the Supreme Court. You can follow that upward path through the WA Supreme Court listings, which cover the state's highest court and its Court of Appeal.

Because judges travel on circuit, a matter connected to a regional community may be heard closer to home rather than in Perth. The Court aims to finalise most circuit matters within 12 months of committal and tries to allocate trial dates at the first appearance. If the case you are tracking has a regional connection, the relevant circuit venue, such as the District Court at Geraldton, may carry the listing instead of the Hay Street building. Confirming the venue before travelling can save a wasted trip across what is the most geographically dispersed court system in the country.

Frequently asked questions

Where is the District Court Building located?

The District Court Building is at 500 Hay Street, Perth WA 6000, on the corner of Hay and Irwin Streets in the Perth CBD. The Perth registry operates from this address on weekdays between 9:00am and 4:30pm.

What types of cases are listed at the District Court Building?

This building primarily hosts serious criminal trials, including jury trials, for indictable offences such as serious and sexual assaults, robbery, serious fraud, burglary and drug offences. The most serious offences like murder and manslaughter are heard by the Supreme Court, and most District Court civil matters are handled at the David Malcolm Justice Centre.

Are jury trials held at 500 Hay Street?

Yes. The building was purpose-built with multiple jury trial courtrooms, a high-security courtroom suite and separate circulation systems for jurors, which is why the majority of the Court's metropolitan criminal trials are listed here.

How often are the court lists updated?

Daily lists are published through the eCourts Portal of Western Australia and can change on the morning of a hearing as matters are resolved, adjourned or vacated. For accuracy, check the list on the day rather than relying on an earlier version.

Why can't I find a matter I expected on the list?

A matter may have been vacated, adjourned, settled, moved to another venue such as the David Malcolm Justice Centre or a regional circuit court, or subject to suppression or reporting restrictions. Any of these can affect whether and how an entry appears publicly.

What is the difference between the District Court and the Supreme Court in WA?

The District Court is the intermediate court, hearing serious indictable offences up to a 25-year maximum penalty and civil claims up to $750,000. The Supreme Court is the highest court in the state, dealing with the most serious offences such as murder and unlimited civil claims, and it hears appeals from the District Court.