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Drug Court of New South Wales
About us
What is the Drug Court of NSW?
The Drug Court of NSW is a specialist court that sits in four locations, Parramatta, Toronto, Sydney and Dubbo in New South Wales, Australia. It takes referrals from the Local and District Courts of offenders who are dependent on drugs and who are considered to be eligible for a Drug Court program.
Download a copy of the Drug Court Facts Sheet (PDF, 123.3 KB) (PDF 124KB) for more information.
Why a specialist drug court?
The Drug Court of NSW attempts to address underlying drug dependency which has resulted in criminal offending.
Drug courts have emerged in a number of countries as a result of growing disenchantment with the ability of traditional criminal justice approaches to provide long term solutions to the cycle of drug use and crime - read more about the history of the Drug Court of NSW.
Where is the Drug Court?
There are four current locations of the court, in Parramatta, Toronto, Sydney CBD and Dubbo. Visit our Contacts page for more details.
How does the Drug Court operate?
The Drug Court of NSW operates according to its governing legislation, the Drug Court Act 1998 and the Drug Court Regulation 2020 and according to:
Read more about the Drug Court procedures in Our program.
Jurisdiction
The Drug Court has Local Court and District Court jurisdiction. Its operations are governed by the Drug Court Act 1998 and Drug Court Regulation 2020, and the Court's past decisions and policies.
The Drug Court Act 1998 (No 150 Part 3 Division 2 Section 24 'Jurisdiction of Drug Court') states the Drug Court has the following jurisdiction:
- the criminal jurisdiction of the District Court
- the criminal jurisdiction of the Local Court
- such other jurisdiction as is vested in the Drug Court by this or any other Act.
About the Drug Court
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See the impact the Drug Court of NSW is having in Dubbo since it opened in 2023.
The Drug Court in DubboSee the impact the Drug Court of NSW is having in Dubbo since it opened in 2023.
Transcript
0:08
Drug court come to Dubbo.
0:10
It's a no brainer to me having that lived experience of being to gaol and being an ex drug user.
0:15
I didn't find that gaol worked.
0:22
The Drug court is in place for drug affected participants.
0:26
They have offended while affected by drugs.
0:30
Their addiction causes their offending behaviour.
0:33
We're hoping that by doing this wrap around service that actually gets in and looks at that responsivity issue and deals with that, then of course they will stop their behaviour.
0:48
The participants attend court once a week and get to speak to a judge.
0:54
They have access to counselling, they do their urinalysis.
0:59
The wrap around service they get from Justice Legal Aid, police, from Community Corrections keeps them on track.
1:08
Having all those supports within the drug court, getting in touch with your trauma and dealing with all those issues, that's why you're using is what needs to be done.
1:15
When you see it in action, it's the best thing that Dubbo can have.
1:25
It's about people rebuilding their lives and becoming the person they want to be.
1:29
At the end of the day, when we walk away, you stand alone as your own person and you've got a job, you're working, you're independent, you in a mentally stable place, a good circle of friends who can support you, family members that you've reconnected with that you may have lost contact with because of your addiction.
1:46
Drug court is offering more.
1:48
They've got all the services in place, they've got all these supports drug court brings that they're getting drug tests, they're seeing counsellors.
1:54
If they're doing that as part of the drug court, that's helping them, it's helping everyone.
Last updated:
05 Dec 2024
We acknowledge the traditional owners and custodians of the land on which we work and we pay respect to the Elders, past, present and future.