General overview
You’ll work remotely via AVL (Audio Visual Link), managing documents digitally and conference clients and appear in court over video. Familiarity with MS Teams and Webex is essential.
The regions that each hub covers vary from court to court. For a full list of courts and regions allocated to each hub, please refer to Regional Weekday Bail Courts.
Three lawyers are assigned to each hub per day.
Courtroom coordination and responsibilities
Police NSW and Corrective Services provide a Form 1, which lists each defendant and their corresponding police station. An in-house solicitor is generally rostered each day to review the Form 1s and allocate matters to practitioners. Practitioners should report to the in-house solicitor at the start of their shift and follow their instructions regarding matter distribution. You will be notified via email of the matters assigned to you. Please note that allocations may increase throughout the day as new matters arise.
You will be provided with a link to a form to complete once you are ready to proceed. The information submitted via this form will be sent directly to the Bail Division Registry. A court officer will then contact you when the court is ready to hear your matters.
The Hub Information Sheet provides a link to the Microsoft Teams chat for your courtroom. This chat includes the Court Officer, Prosecutor, and all solicitors rostered for the day. You can use it to liaise and coordinate throughout the shift – functioning much like a regular courtroom environment.
There is no set number. You are expected to continue seeing defendants until all assigned matters are completed or you have been officially released by the in-house solicitor.
Please check with the in-house solicitor. You may finish your shift once all your assigned matters are completed, and the in-house solicitor has confirmed that all matters for your courtroom have concluded. Ensure that all paperwork, including the Digital Duty Form, has been submitted to the relevant Legal Aid NSW office before concluding for the day.
Yes. Please forward papers and any other documentation to the relevant Legal Aid NSW Hub email address provided on the Hub Information Sheet.
Court papers and documentation
You will receive emails from the Virtual Bail Court containing all matters related to your allocated hub. These emails are forwarded from NSW Police via Legal Aid NSW and will include the papers for your assigned defendants. Carefully review the contents and delete any documents for defendants you are not appearing for.
If you do not receive the necessary papers, contact the Bail Division Prosecutors – Team Leader, contact information is provided on the Hub Information sheet.
No. You are not required to print out the papers. However, you may do so at your own expense. All practitioners must be able to manage documents digitally as standard practice.
If you choose to print out the papers, you must ensure that the Duty Form is scanned and submitted, and that all printed court papers are returned to the relevant Legal Aid NSW office.
Please contact your local Prosecutor, or the Bail Division Prosecutors – Team Leader, contact information is provided on the hub information sheet.
If a document is required to be tendered during court proceedings, the party wishing to tender should email the document to baildivisionregistry@justice.nsw.gov.au, whereby the Bail Division Registry will receive the document and make the electronic copy available to the Magistrates for their attention.
A copy of the document should also be provided to the other party via email where appropriate.
Send all court papers, including the completed Digital Duty Form, to the designated Legal Aid NSW office by the end of the day. Information for the relevant court locations and contact details can be found on the Hub Information Sheet.
They will need to speak directly with the Police.
Under our agreement with NSW Police, we are not permitted to forward court papers to solicitors who are not undertaking work for Legal Aid NSW. Do not distribute any documentation to practitioners representing defendants privately.
Access to defendants
Legal Aid lawyers will obtain instructions from the defendants by AVL commencing from cut off time, the day prior and then commencing from 7.30am on the morning of court.
Please note, although you can conference from 7.30am, duty solicitors will commence shift from 9.00am.
Police NSW and Corrective Services provide a Form 1, which lists each defendant and their corresponding police station.
A Form 1 will be sent to the designated hub email address only once a client is ready to be conferenced. Once work has been allocated to you, you will need to contact the relevant Police Station or Corrective Services site directly via telephone. Once connected, provide them with the names of the defendants assigned to you and advise the order in which you intend to see them.
You need to advise the police officer that the conference must take place via AVL in a confidential setting. Remind them that this is the minimum requirement to ensure defendant confidentiality. Phone conferencing is not an appropriate alternative and should not be used.
If you have operation or technical issues with AVL, please raise with VirtualBailCourt@legalaid.nsw.gov.au
No, conferences need to be conducted via AVL.
If you have operation or technical issues with AVL, please raise with VirtualBailCourt@legalaid.nsw.gov.au
Try calling again in case the line is temporarily busy or unattended. If you are still unable to reach anyone, contact the number provided or Bail Division Prosecutors – Team Leader. The relevant contact details can be found on the Hub Information Sheet.
Technology and AVL
You will be provided with a Hub Information Sheet, which contains all essential contact details, including AVL dial-in numbers, police station telephone numbers, and instructions on where to send paperwork.
Webex should be installed on your mobile phone as a backup access option. If you continue to experience issues, communicate through the Microsoft Teams shift chat and resolve the matter with your colleagues on the day.
Pleas and bail application processes
Yes, if:
- the Magistrate has capacity
- no Sentencing Assessment Report is needed, and
- the accused consents.
Refer to the Practice Note – Bail Division Proceedings (commencing 7 July 2025).
They need to attend the local registry in their area during opening hours to lodge the surety or this can be done after hours with the Police.
Yes. Giving sworn evidence in a virtual bail court involves the same legal obligations and formality as doing so in a physical courtroom.
Yes, Webex allows screen sharing. The file must be on your computer.
Children’s Bail Court
No, most Children’s matters will be centralised to Parramatta Children’s Court and covered by our Children’s Legal Service (CLS) Team.
There may be some days where children matters are covered by our Duty Solicitor Scheme Solicitors in areas like Tweed Heads and Batemans Bay.
| Area | Details |
|---|---|
| First appearance bail proceedings are to be listed at the relevant Children’s Court. The young person is to appear in person unless the Court directs otherwise, |
| Northern Rivers Children’s Court circuit | First appearance bail proceedings are to be listed at the relevant sitting court on the circuit. The young person is to appear by AVL unless the Court directs otherwise. |
| Illawarra Children’s Court circuit (except Sutherland Children’s Court unless the circuit is sitting at Sutherland) | First appearance bail proceedings to be listed at the relevant sitting court on the circuit. The young person is to appear by AVL unless the Court directs otherwise. |
A young person will appear in person or by AVL in accordance with the arrangements set out in Table 1, however if a child or young person has a first appearance bail application on the date of an existing court case their first appearance bail application will be listed before the court that is hearing the existing case. If practicable the young person is to be transported to the court which is determining the existing case.
Prosecutors and legal practitioners will appear in person unless the Court grants leave to appear by AVL in a particular case.
For more information refer to Practice Note 20 Bail Proceedings (Commencing 26 June 2025)
Duty Solicitor Scheme (DSS)
The local court roster will remain unchanged, and you will continue to manage the list as usual.
You will no longer be responsible for fresh custody matters, as these have been centralised to the Bail Division.
If you are a practitioner on the Virtual Bail Court Scheme and have accepted an offer of work on a non-list day, fresh custody matters may still fall within your responsibilities. While undertaking a virtual bail shift, you are not permitted to engage in other work, including matters for Legal Aid NSW or any in-person court appearances.
You will no longer be required to attend on that day, as all fresh custody matters have been centralised to the Bail Division.
In this case, please confirm your responsibilities with your local Legal Aid NSW office or Duty Coordinator, as arrangements may vary.
Support services
Where the court has been advised that a defendant requires an interpreter, the registry will make a booking request. The request will be made to a service provider via the general booking process, for the appearance of an interpreter to appear into the court via AVL:
- Multicultural NSW – use LanguageLink.
- Translating and Interpreting Services – use TIS online. (Is there a TIS number?)
At this stage, Aboriginal Legal Service (ALS) is not participating in the Bail Division. You may explain this to the client and advise that Legal Aid NSW is providing representation for bail matters at this time.
Court participation and family support
Where a party (family member, support person or other person) requests access to the court to observe the proceedings by AVL, they should be advised to contact the Bail Division registry baildivisionregistry@justice.nsw.gov.au or their local court registry to obtain instructions. The court officer will admit the party via AVL to allow them to view the proceedings.