This is an omnibus Bill to expand the jurisdiction of Community Magistrates to free up judicial resource and improve the timeliness of cases in the District Court.
This bill has been accorded urgency in the House, with referral to a select committee. First detected 11 July 2026, 9:20am UTC.
Urgency compresses the timetable, not the politics. Until the third reading, the committee of the whole House can still amend the bill — changes are moved right up to the final vote. The channels that operate at this speed:
| Stage | Sitting day | Record |
|---|---|---|
| Introduction | 30 Jun 2026 | Introduction of bills: Community Magistrates Legislation Amendment Bill source · debate & vote (Hansard) |
| First reading | 30 Jun 2026 | The Community Magistrates Legislation Amendment Bill was read a first time and referred to the Justice Committee. source · debate & vote (Hansard) |
Dates are sitting days as recorded by the Office of the Clerk; a sitting extended under urgency continues under its original day. Readings are decided by party vote: each party casts its members’ votes en bloc (proxies included), so the whole House needn’t be present and individual attendance isn’t recorded — the party-by-party tally for each reading is in that day’s Hansard, linked per stage above.
AI-assisted analysis · every claim links to primary source ·
corrections
Published 13 Jul 2026, 7:20pm UTC (separate from, and later than, the alert timestamp above)
· model: claude-opus-4-8
In short: Expands Community Magistrates' jurisdiction to more offences, bail decisions, and limited licence applications, and creates a Principal Community Magistrate role.
“The District Court presided over by 1 or more Community Magistrates has jurisdiction in respect of— (a) a category 1 offence; and (b) a category 2 offence punishable by a term of imprisonment not exceeding 3 months; and (c) an infringement offence.”
“If the District Court presided over by 1 or more Community Magistrates receives a plea from a defendant to a charge for a category 2 offence punishable by a term of imprisonment exceeding 3 months or a category 3 offence, the court must transfer the proceeding to the District Court presided over by a District Court Judge.”
“A Community Magistrate or Community Magistrates may not grant bail to a defendant to whom this section applies or allow the defendant to go at large unless— (a) the defendant has pleaded guilty to the offence”
“A defendant who is charged with or convicted of a drug dealing offence may be granted bail only by order of— (a) a High Court Judge; or (b) a District Court Judge; or (c) a Community Magistrate or Community Magistrates.”
“the court must transfer the proceeding to the District Court presided over by a District Court Judge for the sentencing of the defendant if the court— (a) received the defendant’s guilty plea, or found the defendant guilty, when exercising jurisdiction in accordance with section 356; and (b) has reason to believe that a sentence of imprisonment or home detention may be appropriate.”
“the District Court presided over by 1 or more Community Magistrates may not determine an application relating to a disqualification order unless— (a) the order was made on the applicant’s conviction for— (i) a category 1 offence; or (ii) a category 2 offence punishable by a term of imprisonment not exceeding 3 months; and (b) the application is unopposed.”
“There must be a Principal Community Magistrate appointed by the Governor-General on the advice of the Attorney-General.”
“Despite subsection (1), the Principal Community Magistrate may not sit as a Community Magistrate or exercise the jurisdiction of a Community Magistrate.”
Taken under urgency; the compressed timetable limited scrutiny even where a committee stage existed.
Method: the model reads the bill as published (claude-opus-4-8); every claim above carries a verbatim span of that text, checked mechanically — claims that fail the check are dropped, not softened. Text analysed from an archived copy of the official text. Full methodology →
A motion to accord urgency to the following business was agreed to: - the remaining stages of: - the Antisocial Road Use Legislation Amendment Bill; - the Health and Safety at Work Amendment Bill; - the Offshore Renewable Energy Bill; - the Healthy Futures (Pae Ora) Amendment Bill; and - the Regulatory Systems (Primary Industries) Amendment Bill; - the first reading and referral to a select committee of: - the Building Amendment Bill; and - the Climate Change Response (Tort Liability) Amendment Bill; - the second reading of: - the Local Government (System Improvements) Amendment Bill; - the Crimes Amendment Bill; - the Land Transport (Revenue) Amendment Bill; - the Infrastructure Funding and Financing Amendment Bill; and - the Pae Ora (Healthy Futures) (3 Day Postnatal Stay) Amendment Bill; - the first reading and referral to a select committee of: - the Community Magistrates Legislation Amendment Bill; and - the Environmental Reporting Amendment Bill; - the second reading of: - the Building (Earthquake-prone Buildings) Amendment Bill; and - the Emergency Management Bill (No 2); - the first reading and referral to a select committee of the Regulatory Systems (Social Security) Amendment Bill (No 2); - the discharge and re-committal to a select committee of the Regulatory Systems (Courts) Amendment Bill; and - the remaining stages of: - the Regulatory Systems (Tribunals) Amendment Bill and the Regulatory Systems (Occupational Regulation) Amendment Bill; - the Mental Health Bill; - the Plain Language Act Repeal Bill; and - the Constitution Amendment Bill.
