Criminal Lawyers Brisbane

Charged with an offence in Brisbane: where your case starts

If police have charged you in Fortitude Valley, the CBD, New Farm, Newstead, Bowen Hills, Spring Hill, South Brisbane or West End, start with the paperwork you were handed. It will be a notice to appear, a complaint and summons, or a bail undertaking (a written promise to come to court). Each one names a court, a date and a time. If you do not attend, the magistrate may issue a warrant for your arrest.

Every adult criminal charge in Queensland starts in the Magistrates Court, however serious it is. For inner Brisbane that usually means Brisbane Magistrates Court at 363 George Street, Brisbane. Queensland Courts also lists the Roma Street Arrest Courts at 240 Roma Street, Brisbane, and suburban courthouses such as Holland Park Magistrates Court at 8 Marshall Road, Holland Park West. Always go to the court named on your paperwork.

Your first date is called a mention. It is short and no witnesses give evidence. The magistrate reads the charge and asks what you want to do. A duty lawyer (a lawyer available at court on the day, through Legal Aid Queensland) can give you initial advice. You can ask for an adjournment, meaning a later date, to get legal advice, although Legal Aid Queensland warns you may not be given more than one.

How criminal law works in Queensland

Queensland is a Code state. Most offences and defences are written down in one statute, the Criminal Code Act 1899 (Qld). The Code separates simple offences, which a magistrate decides, from indictable offences, the more serious charges that can go before a judge and jury.

Many indictable charges still finish in the Magistrates Court. Chapter 58A of the Code requires a range of indictable offences to be heard summarily, meaning by a magistrate alone. That includes offences with a maximum penalty of three years or less and many property offences where the value involved is under the prescribed value of $30,000. A magistrate dealing with an indictable offence this way can generally impose no more than three years imprisonment, and must send the case to a higher court if that would not be an adequate punishment.

Charges that cannot stay with a magistrate go through a committal, the step that transfers a case to a higher court. Under the Justices Act 1886 (Qld), a committal can proceed on written witness statements instead of witnesses giving evidence in person, and if you have a lawyer the court registry can commit the case without a hearing (a registry committal). The District Court then deals with most serious charges, such as rape, drug supply and grievous bodily harm. The Supreme Court deals with murder, manslaughter and drug trafficking. Both sit in the Queen Elizabeth II Courts of Law at 415 George Street.

Before you decide how to plead, ask for the QP9, the police summary of what they say happened. If it is wrong, say so through your lawyer or the duty lawyer, because a guilty plea means being sentenced on the prosecutor's version of events.

Bail in Queensland: watch-house bail, court bail and show cause

Bail is governed by the Bail Act 1980 (Qld). Police at the watch-house can grant bail themselves. If they refuse, they must take you before a court as soon as reasonably practicable, and you can apply to the magistrate.

The starting point favours release: section 9 says a court must grant bail unless the Act provides otherwise. Under section 16, bail has to be refused if there is an unacceptable risk that you would fail to appear, commit an offence, endanger someone's safety or welfare, or interfere with witnesses.

Some situations reverse the onus. This is called a show cause position: you must persuade the court that keeping you in custody is not justified. Examples include being charged with an indictable offence allegedly committed while on bail for another, an indictable offence in which you allegedly used or threatened to use a firearm, offensive weapon or explosive, an offence against the Bail Act itself, and certain domestic violence charges, including choking or strangulation in a domestic setting.

If a magistrate refuses bail, a fresh application generally needs a material change in circumstances, so the first application should be prepared carefully. The Supreme Court can also hear bail applications. Breaking a condition of your bail undertaking is an offence under section 29, with a maximum of 40 penalty units or two years imprisonment, and failing to turn up to court is a separate offence.

Bail law may change soon. The Breach Bail, Go to Jail and Other Legislation Amendment Bill 2026 was introduced into Queensland Parliament on 27 August 2026. If passed, it would make bail harder to get for adults charged with certain serious offences while already on bail. At the date of this review it was still before a parliamentary committee and was not law.

Drink driving, drug driving and your licence in Queensland

Drink driving always goes to court in Queensland. A magistrate, not the police, decides the disqualification and the penalty. The Queensland Government publishes the maximums for a first offence (indexed from 1 July 2026). For a reading of 0.05 to under 0.10: two to nine months disqualification, a fine of up to $3,454 and up to three months imprisonment. For 0.10 to under 0.15: three to twelve months disqualification, up to $4,835 and up to six months. For 0.15 and over: at least six months disqualification, up to $6,908 and up to nine months imprisonment. A charge of 0.10 or over also means your licence is suspended immediately, and that suspension lasts until the court deals with the charge or it is withdrawn.

Driving with a relevant drug present (THC, methylamphetamine, MDMA or cocaine detected in saliva) carries one to nine months disqualification, a fine of up to $2,417 and up to three months imprisonment.

If you drive for a living, a restricted licence, often called a work licence, may be possible. You must apply to the magistrate after being found guilty but before the disqualification is imposed. You are not eligible if your reading was 0.15 or more, if you were using the vehicle for work at the time of the offence, or if you have had a relevant suspension, cancellation or drink, drug or dangerous driving conviction in the past five years.

Diversion and court programs at Brisbane Magistrates Court

Not every charge has to end with a recorded conviction. Under section 12 of the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992 (Qld), a court has a discretion not to record a conviction, looking at the nature of the offence, your character and age, and the effect on your work and wellbeing.

Queensland also runs programs through the Magistrates Court. The Illicit Drugs Court Diversion Program and the Drug and Alcohol Assessment Referral program involve a single education session of 60 to 90 minutes; Queensland Courts states that on successful completion of a diversion program no conviction is recorded for the referred charges. Court Link is a bail-based program that connects people with housing, health, mental health and substance use support, and it operates at Brisbane and Holland Park. The Queensland Drug and Alcohol Court, for adults whose offending is linked to a severe substance use disorder, sits only at Brisbane Magistrates Court. Adult restorative justice conferencing, a facilitated meeting with the person harmed, can be offered by police, prosecutors or the court. Each has eligibility rules.

How Queensland differs from Victoria and New South Wales

Victoria and New South Wales are common law jurisdictions rather than Code jurisdictions, so the names and elements of offences and defences differ. Bail tests are different in every state, and Queensland's show cause rules come from its own Bail Act 1980. The drink driving penalties and work licence scheme above are Queensland rules only. Commonwealth charges, such as Centrelink fraud, are the exception: the offence is the same nationally, but most are still prosecuted in Queensland courts using Queensland procedure.