Court records research guide

This guide will help you find information about court cases in court records and how to access them both at the National Library and online.

What information is in court records

Court records include unpublished decisions, transcripts of proceedings (a verbatim account of statements given during proceedings), letters, lists of trials, depositions, circulars, and bench books et cetera, and may cover the topics of wills (grants of probate or letters of administration); divorce; bankruptcy; civil and criminal cases; naturalisation; newspaper registrations; and conscientious objectors. 

When it comes to recent cases, records may not be accessible for privacy reasons. Original court records are usually closed from time of creation for 75 years for adults and 99 years for children. Many original court records are held at the relevant National or State/Territory archives.

sepia photo of the Supreme Court in Adelaide in the late 1800s

Samuel White Sweet, (1869), Supreme Court, Adelaide, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-144217269

Samuel White Sweet, (1869), Supreme Court, Adelaide, nla.gov.au/nla.obj-144217269

Key sources

The Library does not hold original court records. However, some indexes and transcriptions of historic records can be found in the Library and/or online. A selection of resources are listed here by jurisdiction.

Use the online catalogue to find and retrieve material using your Library login.

In the Library

  • High Court of Australia. Transcripts of proceedings held by the Library (1965+)
  • Other federal court and tribunal transcripts are held by the Library from the 1970s to 1996. Check the catalogue under the name of the court or tribunal for more details, e.g. Australia. Family Court. Transcript of proceedings.

Online

In the Library

Online

State Records of NSW provide an alphabetical list of research topics. These include:

In the Library

Online

  • Queensland State Archives guide to court records. Includes online indexes.

In the Library

Online

In the Library

Online

Libraries Tasmania has the following guides to records:

In the Library

Online

Public Record Office Victoria has the following guides (including online indexes):

In the Library

Online

Ancestry (Library Edition) and Findmypast

A range of court and criminal records are available on both Ancestry (Library Edition) and Findmypast. You can access either of these databases in our reading rooms by visiting our eResources portal and searching for each under the "browse eResources" tab.

The Australian Joint Copying Project (AJCP)

The Australian Joint Copying Project (AJCP) is a collection of unique historical material relating to Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific dating from 1560 to 1984. It located, described and filmed thousands of classes and collections of records from all over Britain and Ireland, including court records.

Use the AJCP portal to find court records under various county Public Record Offices, Old Bailey Sessions returns of convicted prisoners, and several criminal, convict and prison registers for the late 1700s to the mid 1800s.

For more information see the Library’s Convicts Research GuideTrial records.

Records relating to the Privy Council in London

How to search and find court records

The Library does not hold original court records. However, some indexes and transcriptions of historic records can be found online and/or at the Library.

You can’t browse the Library’s shelves in person, but you can use the Catalogue to search by title, author, subject or Dewey number.

To search for indexes and transcriptions of court records, try searching either by subject or keywords. Some examples are:

  • Court records--[Jurisdiction]
  • Divorce records--[Jurisdiction]
  • Probate records--[Jurisdiction]
  • Criminal registers
  • Convicts--[country/state]--Registers

Summaries of court proceedings are sometimes reported in daily newspapers. You can search for newspaper reports in Australian historic newspapers on Trove, generally up to 1954. For more recent reports, go to our eResources portal, click on “browse eResources” and click on Newpapers & Media under category to find a list of online full-text newspaper databases to search.

If you’re finding it difficult to find court records, check to see if a law report (a summary of the judge’s decision) exists, as it may provide some details. Only legally significant cases are reported on.

Get help with your research

Our specialist staff can help you with your research, to locate resources and to use our microfilm and scanning equipment but they cannot undertake extensive or ongoing genealogical, historical or other research on your behalf.

Find out more in our Information and Research Policy.

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Page published: 17 Dec 2021

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