At a glance: NSW Criminal Court Statistics (December 2025)

Finalised court appearances have increased

In 2025, NSW criminal courts finalised 156,256 court appearances, up 8.3% from 2024. 

• Local Court finalisations increased 9.1% (up from 134,735 in 2024 to 146,977 in 2025), driven by more matters finalised by guilty plea or sentence and other non-trial outcome. Domestic violence-related matters continued to grow (up 13.3%) and accounted for more than one in four Local Court finalisations.
• District Court finalisations fell 7.5% between 2024 and 2025, from 3,374 to 3,120 matters, driven by an 11.9% decline in sentence finalisations (from 2,452 to 2,161). In contrast, trial finalisations increased 4.9%, from 656 to 688 matters.
• Supreme Court finalisations fell 27% (down from 92 to 67 in 2025), largely due to fewer trials being finalised (down from 61 in 2024 to 37 in 2025).
• Children’s Court finalisations remained stable between 2024 and 2025 (6,058 in 2024 and 6,092 in 2025). 

Court delay has improved 

• In the Local Court, the median time from arrest to finalisation for defended hearings fell by 28 days, from 275 days in 2024 to 247 days in 2025.
• In the District Court, the median trial delay increasing slightly from 834 days in 2024 to 843 days in 2025.