The District Court of Western Australia is the intermediate court in Western Australia

Western Australia

Western Australia is a state of Australia, occupying the entire western third of the Australian continent. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Great Australian Bight and Indian Ocean to the south, the Northern Territory to the north-east and South Australia to the south-east...

. The Perth Registry is located at 500 Hay Street, Perth. Other registries are located at Albany, Broome, Bunbury, Busselton, Carnarvon, Derby, Esperance, Geraldton, Kalgoorlie, Karratha, Kununurra, and South Hedland.

In the Criminal jurisdiction it hears serious, indictable criminal offences for which the maximum penalty is 20 years' imprisonment.

In the Civil jurisdiction, the District Court hears civil claims of up to $750 000 and has unlimited jurisdiction in claims for damages in personal injury cases.

Decisions from the Magistrates Court and some tribunals can be appealed against in the District Court. The court is low in the Australian court hierarchy

Australian court hierarchy

There are two streams within the hierarchy of Australian courts, the federal stream and the state and territory stream. While the federal courts and the court systems in each state and territory are separate, the High Court of Australia remains the ultimate court of appeal for the Australian...

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The current Chief Judge of the District Court is Peter Dominic Martino.