This update applies to all District Court venues and to the Dust Diseases Tribunal of NSW from 12 January 2022. This update includes important information on jury trials, judge alone trials, sentencing proceedings, rapid antigen testing requirements and mask wearing. All further information about District Court operations during COVID-19 is available here.

The Commission’s COVID-19 Response has been updated. In-person medical assessments have been paused for the month of January. In most cases, hearings are continuing to be conducted virtually. Full details on how medical assessments scheduled between Monday 10 January 2022 and Monday 31 January 2022 will be managed, as well as other details regarding the Commission’s pandemic response, are here.

The Chief Magistrate, in consultation with stakeholders, has made the decision as of Friday 7 January to vacate all defended hearings (including hearings where the defendant is in custody) state wide up until and including Friday 21 January 2022. The matters will remain listed for call over, parties who are legally represented are excused from attendance and legal practitioners can appear via AVL or email to seek a further hearing date. Until further notice, all other matters are to proceed in accordance with this Memo.

The Supreme Court has advised urgent civil hearings during the court vacation should occur via AVL, unless the judge deems an in-person hearing to be absolutely essential. A decision on hearings from Monday, 31 January (post vacation) will be made on Monday, 24 January.

The NSW Government announced yesterday that anyone who tests positive using a Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) will now be required to register their result with Service NSW. Residents who fail to report positive RAT results will face a $1000 fine. Read the Government release here. The update to the Public Health Order can be viewed here.