The District Court of South Australia is

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

's principal trial court. It was established as a court of record by the ''District Court Act 1991''. Prior to that the Court had existed since 1969 under the ''Local and District Criminal Courts Act 1926''.

Jurisdiction and appointment of judges

Judges of the District Court are appointed by the Governor of South Australia on the advice of the Executive Council. Once appointed, they cannot be removed from office except by an address from both houses of the

South Australian Parliament The Parliament of South Australia is the bicameral legislature of the Australian state of South Australia. It consists of the 47-seat House of Assembly ( lower house) and the 22-seat Legislative Council (upper house). General elections are h ...

. They must retire when they reach the age of 70. Judges of the Employment Court, the Environment, Resources and Development Court, the Licensing Court and the Youth Court, as well as Masters of the Supreme Court, also formally hold office as District Court Judges. They are not listed on this page (except where they have also served as a District Court Judge). The work of the Court is divided into four areas: civil, criminal, administrative and disciplinary, and criminal injuries. The District Court can hear most civil and criminal matters except for offences related to murder and treason. It also has jurisdiction over criminal injuries compensation claims. In the administrative and disciplinary division, the Court hears appeals from various

government agencies A government or state agency, sometimes an appointed commission, is a permanent or semi-permanent organization in the machinery of government that is responsible for the oversight and administration of specific functions, such as an administratio ...

, tribunals and disciplinary bodies. The Court is usually constituted of a single judge sitting alone or with a jury (in criminal trials only). In certain cases a judge may sit with two assessors who, with the judge, determine factual questions while the judge determines questions of law. For ceremonial occasions such as the swearing in of a new judge, the Court sits as a Full Court constituted of all available judges. The main seat of the Court is the Sir Samuel Way Building in Victoria Square,

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater Adelaide (including the Adelaide Hills) or the Adelaide city centre. The dem ...

(which was originally the Charles Moore and Co. Department store). It also conducts circuits in

Mount Gambier Mount Gambier is the second most populated city in South Australia, with an estimated urban population of 33,233 . The city is located on the slopes of Mount Gambier, a volcano in the south east of the state, about south-east of the capital Ad ...

, Berri,

Port Pirie Port Pirie is a small city on the east coast of the Spencer Gulf in South Australia, north of the state capital, Adelaide. The city has an expansive history which dates back to 1845. Port Pirie was the first proclaimed regional city in South A ...

Whyalla Whyalla was founded as "Hummocks Hill", and was known by that name until 1916. It is the fourth most populous city in the Australian state of South Australia after Adelaide, Mount Gambier and Gawler and along with Port Pirie and Port Augusta i ...

and

Port Lincoln Port Lincoln is a town on the Lower Eyre Peninsula in the Australian state of South Australia. It is situated on the shore of Boston Bay, which opens eastward into Spencer Gulf. It is the largest city in the West Coast region, and is located a ...

(civil), and

and Port Augusta (criminal).

Current Judges of the District Court

''(Date of appointment appears in brackets)''

Chief Judge

*Michael Evans (20 December 2016)

Judges

*Rauf Soulio (12 October 2006) *Julie McIntyre (25 October 2007) *Paul Cuthbertson (6 August 2009) *Simon Stretton (4 February 2010) *Geraldine Davison (25 June 2012) *Paul Muscat (25 June 2012) *Paul Slattery (25 June 2012) *Joanne Tracey (5 March 2015) *Jane Schammer (12 December 2016) *Liesl Chapman (31 October 2017) *Michael Durrant (28 February 2019) *Jo-Anne Deuter (6 May 2019) *Joana Fuller (10 December 2019) *Michael Burnett (2 February 2020) *Ian Press (20 January 2020) *Karen Thomas (6 October 2020) *Timothy Heffernan (12 April 2021)

Masters

*Peter Norman *Mark Blumberg *Elizabeth Olsson

References

External links

District Court information section and location link

District Court of South Australia Judgments
{{Australian Courts South Australian courts and tribunals 1969 establishments in Australia Courts and tribunals established in 1969