The Court has improved access to court records, with the new RedCrest-Search website now live. Find out more about filing litigation and court file search requests on RedCrest-Search.
Documents filed in a proceeding can usually be inspected and copied if you pay the correct fee.
However, some documents may be confidential and might require an order of the Court or permission from the Prothonotary, Deputy Prothonotary or Registrar before inspection is allowed.
Documents filed in criminal proceedings are generally not available for inspection.
You can find out more about litigation searches and filing a court file search request below.
Litigation searches
Litigation/party name searches can be performed to find out whether a person or company/organisation is a party to a civil or probate case in the Supreme Court of Victoria.
To perform a litigation search, you must register for RedCrest-Search and file your request online.
The video below explains how to perform a litigation search:
Note: Results may not appear if there are certain restrictions on the publication of names or court proceedings.
You must pay a fee for each name searched. You can pay by credit card on RedCrest-Search.
Court file search requests
To request a court file search for a case in the Trial Division or Court of Appeal, register for RedCrest-Search and file your request online.
For probate searches, see 'searching probate records'.
The video below explains how to submit a request to search a court file:
In this video, you'll be guided through the steps to follow when creating a new RedCrest-Search account.
On the login screen, start off by clicking the register button.
First, read the Important Information at the top of the page and You can then enter all the required information to register as a new user, create a password, and click the register button.
You will now receive an email asking you to confirm the email address you just registered with. You can do this by clicking the confirm email address hyperlink.
This will take you to the RedCrest-Search website, informing you of a successful validation. Click continue to log in with the email address and password of your newly created account.
When you login, you receive an email with a passcode that you need to enter into RedCrest-Search.
Thanks for watching.
Our registry reviews all search requests. We will advise you by email if your request has been approved and explain if your request was not approved.
More information about court file searches is contained below, and you can also find answers to common questions on the Help section of RedCrest-Search.
Documents filed within a civil proceeding are available to search, subject to some exceptions. Under rule 28.05 of the Supreme Court (General Civil Procedure) Rules 2015, a person who is not a party to the proceeding is unable to inspect or obtain copies of certain documents in civil proceedings (e.g. affidavits, witness statements) without leave of the Court, unless the document has been read or relied upon. Rule 28.05 of the Supreme Court (General Civil Procedure) Rules 2015 also states that the Court can order, or the Prothonotary can deem, certain documents as confidential.
Documents in criminal and Court of Appeal criminal proceedings cannot be searched unless permission is obtained under rule 1.11(4) and rule 1A.03(6) of the Supreme Court (Criminal Procedure) Rules 2017.
When submitting a request on RedCrest-Search to search a criminal file you must include the reasons for your request and the documents you are seeking to inspect.
You must pay a fee to search a court file. Pay by credit card when you submit your request to search in RedCrest-Search.
There may be an additional fee payable if you want to search a court file that has been archived in an offsite location. You will be contacted by registry if you must pay a file retrieval fee. You do not have to pay this fee if the file you are searching for has an E in the proceeding number.
If you attend the registry and inspect a file in–person, you may pay a fee to photocopy documents. Photocopying fees do not apply if you bring a USB drive and scan documents.
Once your request has been approved, sign in to RedCrest-Search and navigate to ‘My File Searches’. You will be able to see the request under ‘Approved Requests’. To view the documents, click on the proceeding details. You will be able to download individual documents or all available documents. Ensure you download any required documents within 30 days from the approved date, as after this time they will no longer be available. If the court file is a paper file, the registry may contact you to make alternative arrangements to view copies of the documents.
Parties to a proceeding may request enhanced case access to electronic court files (proceedings that contain an ‘E’ in the number) on RedCrest to view the documents filed in the proceeding. In these circumstances, a request to search may not be required. Find out more about RedCrest enhanced case access.
News media organisations must submit all litigation and court file search requests on RedCrest-Search.
More information for news media organisations about the Court can be found at the media centre.
Documents produced under 42AA subpoena may be searched on, or after, the date for production provided the Court has not received any objections to the subpoena.
Please see Inspecting and Issuing Subpoenas for further information.
The Supreme Court only has information regarding divorce records prior to 1976. All enquiries regarding divorce records after 1976 should be directed to the Family Court of Australia. The Prothonotary will assess whether access will be given to a record and to which documents.
To obtain a copy of a pre-1976 divorce certificate you will need:
- A completed Application for a Copy of Divorce Information form
- Payment of the prescribed Prothonotary's Fees.
Or, if you wish to also apply to access pre-1976 divorce records you will need:
- A completed Application for a Copy of Divorce Information form.
- A sworn Affidavit in Support of application for divorce information.
- Payment of the prescribed Prothonotary's Fees.
For more information about obtaining divorce records please contact the Principal Registry.
A transcript is the written record of what has happened in Court during a trial or hearing. The transcript forms part of the official record of proceedings.
Further information may be found at Transcript Services.
The Freedom of Information Act 1982 (the FOI Act) gives you the right to request access to documents held by Court Services Victoria. For more information, view the freedom of information information on Court Services Victoria's website.
- Recent Trial Division judgments and sentences.
- Recent Court of Appeal judgments.
A large number of unreported judgments, sentencing remarks and judgment summaries from the 1950s to the present can be found using the Law Library of Victoria catalogue.