Alert
If you need an interpreter, you should tell the court as soon as possible so that one can be arranged for the mention. The court will pay for the interpreter.
After you are charged, you may be given a number of documents, including court attendance notice (CAN) or a field CAN, police facts sheet, certificate of blood alcohol concentration, application for an apprehended violence order.
If you were arrested and released on bail you may also get a custody management record, bail undertaking, a property docket.
Sometimes it can be difficult to understand what offence you have been charged with, the allegations against you, and what you have to do next.
Checking what you have been charged with
While the events are still fresh in your mind, it is a good idea to make some notes in your own words about what happened. You should also write down any conversations you had with the police and any witnesses. It is also a good idea to ask any witnesses to make their own notes. These notes will help you to prepare for court.
If you have been charged with an offence and given a Court Attendance Notice (CAN), you will have to go to the specified court on a particular date. Before you go to court, you should check what you have been charged with and consider how you want to respond to those charges.
Depending on the offence, you may get a CAN from Roads and Maritime Services (RMS), your local council or the police.
The CAN will tell you:
- the date and time you have to go to court
- what court you have to go to
- the name of the police officer or authorised officer
- what you have been charged with.
Sample: Court Attendance Notice - police (PDF, 22.7KB).
If you were charged with a drink driving offence, you should also receive a Certificate of Blood Alcohol Concentration.
If you were charged with an offence involving violence, you may also be given an Application for an Apprehended Violence Order or a Provisional Apprehended Violence Order. You should also get a statement from the victim.
If the police charge you but you are not at a police station, the police officer can give you a 'field CAN'. This is a small yellow slip that has the same information. It lists the offence or offences you have been charged with.
If you have lost your court papers, you can get a copy:
- from the Local Court registry
- by calling Court Service Centre on 1300 679 272 and asking for a copy to be posted to you
- from your lawyer.
Aboriginal people can get a copy by:
- speaking to the Aboriginal Service Unit worker at the Local Court
- calling the Aboriginal Services Unit on 1300 679 272.
If you were charged with an offence, the police may or may not have arrested you. If you were arrested the police may have just let you go or they may have released you on bail. Being released on bail means that you have made a promise to the police that you will follow certain conditions if they let you go. This is called a 'bail acknowledgement'.
If you do not go to court on the date specified or if you breach any of your bail conditions, the police can arrest you and hold you in custody until they take you to court.
For more information, see Bail.
Before you go to court, you need to consider whether to plead guilty or not guilty to the charges. For more information, see Deciding whether to plead guilty or not guilty below.
If you disagree with the facts in the police fact sheet, or you want to see if you can get the charges dropped or reduced, see Negotiating with the police below.
Negotiating with the police
If you believe there is evidence that shows you did not commit an offence or you have been charged with a number of offences and you are happy to accept some but not all of them you can ask the police to withdraw (drop) the charges. If you want to plead guilty but disagree with some of the facts, you can ask the police to change the police facts sheet. This is called 'making written representations to the police'.
You should make representations before you go to your first court date. There are certain ways you have to make your representations.
For more information, see Negotiating with the police about a criminal charge.
Deciding whether to plead guilty or not guilty
Before you go to court you should decide whether you are entering a plea of guilty or not guilty. On the first court date you will have to tell the registrar or magistrate your plea.
Before you decide to plead guilty or not guilty, you should get legal advice.
If you have a mental health issue, an intellectual disability, or you have been charged with a serious driving offence or an offence relating to drugs or alcohol, you should get legal advice as there are some specific options that may be available to you.
For more information, see Deciding whether to plead guilty or not guilty.
Changing your plea
If you have already entered a plea, but you want to change it, in some cases you can.
If you have entered a plea of not guilty, you can change your plea to guilty at any time before or during the hearing. Before changing your plea, you should get legal advice.
For more information, see Pleading not guilty.
You can only apply to change your plea from guilty to not guilty before you are sentenced. There must be exceptional circumstances for your plea to be changed from guilty to not guilty. Before changing your plea, you should get legal advice.
For more information, see Pleading guilty.
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