Hon Nick Goiran questions the Attorney General regarding the Magistrate’s Court (Civil Proceedings) Act 2004, seeking data on minor case claims and requesting a review of the Act. The Attorney General provides data but declines to commit to a review at this time.

AnsweredQoN 381Legislative Council
Asked
12 August 2025
Portfolio
Attorney General

QuestionView source ↗

I refer to the Magistrate’s Court (Civil
Proceedings) Act 2004 , and I ask: (a) how many minor case claims have been made in the
last 5 years; (b) of the minor case claims in (a) how many: (i) resulted in a default judgment; (ii) settled at a pre-trial conference; (iii) went to trial; and (iv) had legal representation; (c) as it is more than 20 years since the Act
commenced, will you commit to conducting a review of the Act; (d) if yes to (c), when; and (e) if no to (c), why not?

AnswerView source ↗

Answered
16 September 2025
Responded by
Parliamentary Secretary to the Attorney General
Response time
9 days
(a)   For the period 1 July 2020 to 30 June 2025, a total of 10,361 minor case claims have been lodged within the Magistrates Court of Western Australia.
(b)
(i) 2,026. (ii) 1,828. (iii) 309 have commenced at trial. (iv) 1,205 involve or involved d a party being legally represented.
(c)   Not at this time.
(d)   N/A.
(e)   The Department of Justice monitors the operation and effectiveness of legislation within the Attorney General portfolio and would provide a briefing should any issues arise.

Explore WA Government Data

Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.

Explore more