Western Australia runs the largest court network by land area of any Australian jurisdiction, spanning more than 2.5 million square kilometres from the Perth metropolitan area to remote circuit sittings in the Kimberley, Pilbara and Goldfields. Finding the right daily court list across that spread has always been the hard part. This page brings every WA court sitting into one place, grouped by court level and courthouse, with live case counts updated each day so you can confirm a hearing without navigating through the multi-step official portal. Whether you are a practitioner preparing for a mention, a self-represented litigant checking a hearing time, or a family member attending in support, you can see today's Western Australian court listings at a glance.
The Western Australian court system is a four-tier hierarchy. The Magistrates Court sits at the base and handles the overwhelming majority of matters, the District Court is the intermediate trial court, and the Supreme Court is the superior court of record. Alongside these sit the Family Court of Western Australia, the Children's Court, the Coroner's Court and the State Administrative Tribunal (SAT). Each tier publishes its own daily lists, and CourtListAU consolidates all of them so that a single search covers criminal, civil, family, coronial and tribunal proceedings across the state.
How the Western Australian court hierarchy is structured
Understanding which court hears your matter makes reading the daily lists far simpler. The four levels each carry a distinct jurisdiction, and the courthouse you attend depends on both the offence or claim type and where in the state the matter was filed.
Magistrates Court of Western Australia
The Magistrates Court is the entry point for almost every criminal and lower-value civil matter in the state. It was established in May 2005 through the amalgamation of the former Court of Petty Sessions, the Small Claims Tribunal and the Local Court, under the Magistrates Court Act 2004 (WA). The court deals with adults aged 18 and over charged with summary offences, conducts committal hearings for more serious indictable matters, and hears civil claims up to $75,000. It also determines restraining order applications, extraordinary driver's licence applications, dividing fences disputes and residential tenancy matters.
The scale of this court is considerable. In the 2022/23 financial year the Magistrates Court recorded 84,251 criminal lodgments, a 17.8 per cent rise on the previous year, alongside 38,465 civil applications. Debt recovery is a substantial part of the civil workload, with council rate claims and breach of contract disputes making up thousands of filings, while residential tenancy applications accounted for more than 7,400 lodgments in the same period. Those figures explain why the daily criminal list at the busiest metropolitan registries so often runs into the hundreds of cases.
District Court of Western Australia
The District Court is the intermediate trial court, sitting between the Magistrates Court and the Supreme Court. It commenced in 1970 with just four judges, created to relieve pressure on the other two courts as the state's population grew. Today it hears serious indictable offences including serious assaults, sexual offences, armed robbery, serious fraud and drug trafficking, with a maximum penalty jurisdiction of 25 years imprisonment. In its civil jurisdiction the District Court determines claims up to $750,000 and holds unlimited jurisdiction for personal injury damages. The court routinely runs criminal circuits to regional centres, so its lists appear at courthouses well beyond Perth.
Supreme Court of Western Australia
The Supreme Court is the superior court of record for the state, split into a General Division and a Court of Appeal. It hears the most serious criminal trials, including murder, and the highest-value or most complex civil litigation. Much of its work is conducted from the David Malcolm Justice Centre and the historic Supreme Court building in the Perth CBD. Under national court performance standards, superior courts aim to have no more than 10 per cent of pending lodgments older than 12 months and none older than 24 months, which is why timely, accurate listing information matters so much to the parties waiting on trial dates.
Specialist courts and tribunals
Beyond the three general tiers, the Family Court of Western Australia handles parenting and property disputes under a unique arrangement that keeps WA outside the federal family law court structure. The Children's Court deals with young people, the Coroner's Court investigates reportable deaths and fires, and the State Administrative Tribunal reviews administrative and commercial decisions. Each maintains its own list, and all of them are captured here so you do not need to guess which body is sitting on any given day.
Which Western Australian courthouses publish daily lists
WA operates one of the most geographically dispersed court networks in the country. Sittings run not only from permanent metropolitan and regional courthouses but also from remote community halls, police stations and multifunctional facilities that host magistrates on circuit. The busiest single venue is the Central Law Courts at 501 Hay Street, Perth, which regularly lists several hundred criminal and civil matters in a single day.
The metropolitan courts carry the heaviest daily volumes. If you are attending in the Perth CBD, the Perth Magistrates Court listings at the Central Law Courts are the place to start. Outer-metropolitan hubs such as Armadale, Midland, Rockingham and the northern-corridor registry publish substantial lists of their own. The Joondalup court listings are among the most searched in the state, reflecting the population growth along Perth's northern suburbs.
South of the river and into the Peel region, demand is equally strong. The Mandurah court listings cover a fast-growing catchment, while port-city matters appear in the Fremantle court listings. Regional coverage extends to Bunbury, Geraldton, Kalgoorlie, Albany, Broome, Karratha, South Hedland and dozens of smaller circuit locations, so a matter listed in the Goldfields or the Kimberley is just as accessible here as one listed in the city.
Why check court lists through this hub instead of the official portal
The official eCourts Portal of Western Australia at ecourts.justice.wa.gov.au is the authoritative source for filing and case management, but reading a simple daily list through it means selecting the court type, then the location, then the date, and repeating that for every venue you want to check. This hub takes a different approach. Every WA court sits on one page, grouped under Supreme Court, District Court, Magistrates Court, Family Court, Coroner's Court and SAT headings, each with a direct link and a live case count. There is no registration, no login and no fee.
Privacy is built in. All individual names in the listings are partially masked to protect personal information while still upholding the open-justice principle that underpins the Australian legal system. No personal data or search history is stored, so you can confirm a hearing quickly and privately.
Who uses Western Australian court listings
- Solicitors and barristers preparing for mentions, bail applications, committals, trials and sentence proceedings across all court levels.
- Self-represented litigants confirming their court date, courtroom allocation and hearing time before attending.
- Legal Aid WA and community legal centre staff managing caseloads across metropolitan and regional courts.
- WA Police and government agencies tracking the progression of matters through the court system.
- Journalists and members of the public exercising the right to observe open court proceedings.
- Family, friends and support workers attending court alongside a party to proceedings.
How to read a Western Australian daily court list
Each daily list groups matters by courtroom and sitting time, showing the party names (partially masked), the matter type and the presiding officer where published. A criminal list will typically include mentions, first appearances, bail applications, committal hearings and sentence matters, while a civil list covers claims, applications and directions hearings. Specialist lists, such as the Perth Drug Court, the Family Violence list and Mental Health Diversion matters, appear under the relevant Magistrates Court venue. If a matter is not displayed, it may be suppressed under a legislative or court order, or the listing may still be updating for the day.
Frequently asked questions
Are Western Australian court lists updated every day?
Yes. Daily lists across the Supreme, District, Magistrates, Family, Coroner's and SAT jurisdictions are refreshed each sitting day, with live case counts shown for each courthouse so you can see the size of a list before you attend.
Is there a fee to view WA court listings here?
No. Viewing the listings requires no registration, no login and no payment. The lists draw on publicly available court information and are presented in a single, accessible format.
Why are the names on the list partially hidden?
Individual names are partially masked to balance personal privacy against the open-justice principle. The listings confirm that a matter is scheduled without publishing full personal details or storing any search history.
What is the busiest court in Western Australia?
The Central Law Courts at 501 Hay Street, Perth, is the busiest single venue, routinely listing several hundred matters a day. It is the primary Magistrates Court registry for the Perth central business district.
Which court will hear my matter?
Summary criminal charges and civil claims up to $75,000 are heard in the Magistrates Court. Serious indictable offences and civil claims up to $750,000 go to the District Court, and the most serious criminal and highest-value civil matters are heard in the Supreme Court. Family, children's, coronial and administrative matters are handled by their respective specialist courts and the State Administrative Tribunal.
Can I still use the official eCourts portal?
Yes. The eCourts Portal at ecourts.justice.wa.gov.au remains the official channel for lodging documents and managing cases. This hub is designed for quickly reading and comparing daily lists across multiple courts without stepping through the portal's separate selection screens for each venue.