Criminal Lawyer Southport
Charged with a criminal offence on the Gold Coast? Your matter may be listed at the Southport courthouse, where the Magistrates Court, the District Court and a Specialist Domestic and Family Violence Court sit. Fraser Lawyers acts for people charged with criminal offences, from the first mention through to sentence or trial.
If police have charged you, served you with a notice to appear, or released you on bail with a court date at Southport, the first task is the same: find out exactly what the charge is and what the first court date involves. The Southport courthouse, on the corner of Davenport and Hinze Streets, hears criminal matters for much of the Gold Coast. Which court your matter starts in, and where it ends up, depends on the charge and on where the offence is alleged to have happened.
This page explains what to expect at Southport in a criminal matter: the first mention, bail, police interviews, how a charge moves from the Magistrates Court to the District Court, and domestic and family violence matters. It is written for adults; different rules apply to people under 18. If your charge is a traffic offence such as drink driving, drug driving or disqualified driving, our Traffic Lawyers Southport page covers it.
What we help with
Fraser Lawyers acts for people at every stage of a criminal matter heard at Southport.
- Matter
- What it usually involves
- Advice before a police interview
- Advice on your right to remain silent and what to expect before you speak to police, ideally before the interview starts.
- Bail applications
- Applications in the Magistrates Court after a watch-house refusal, applications to vary bail conditions, and reviews in the Supreme Court where bail has been refused.
- Appearing at mentions
- Appearing for you at the first mention and later mentions, obtaining the police brief and seeking time to prepare.
- Guilty pleas and sentencing submissions
- Preparing material on your background and circumstances and presenting submissions on penalty, including on whether a conviction should be recorded.
- Summary hearings and committals
- Contesting a charge in the Magistrates Court where there is a genuine issue, and acting in committal proceedings for charges heading to the District Court.
- Domestic violence order applications
- Acting for respondents to a protection order application, and for people charged with contravening an order.
Every criminal matter turns on its own evidence and on the person charged. What helps most is a clear early view of the charge, the strength of the prosecution case and the realistic range of outcomes, so that decisions about bail, pleas and hearings are made on good information.
- Where Southport courthouse, corner of Davenport and Hinze Streets, Southport
- Courts that sit there Magistrates Court, District Court and a Specialist Domestic and Family Violence Court
- Your first date A mention, not a trial. You do not have to enter a plea that day.
- Police interview You have the right to remain silent. Get legal advice before you answer questions.
- Bail The starting point is that bail is granted, but some charges reverse that.
What happens at your first mention at Southport.
Queensland Courts lists the Southport Magistrates Court and the Southport District Court at the corner of Davenport and Hinze Streets, Southport (PO Box 103, Southport Qld 4215). The Specialist Domestic and Family Violence Court also operates at Southport. Most criminal charges, including serious ones, begin in the Magistrates Court.
Your first court date is a mention. It is an administrative listing, not a hearing of the evidence. The magistrate confirms who you are, notes whether you have a lawyer, and asks how the matter is to proceed: whether you intend to plead guilty, contest the charge, or need time to get advice and see the police brief. You are not required to enter a plea at the first mention, and an adjournment to obtain advice is commonly granted. Where a lawyer acts for you, the lawyer can often appear at a mention on your behalf, although if you are on bail you may still need to attend, so check your bail conditions or notice before assuming you can stay away.
On the day, arrive well before the time on your notice or bail paperwork and find out which courtroom your matter is listed in. Bring the paperwork police gave you. If you are on bail, failing to appear can lead to a warrant for your arrest and a separate charge under the Bail Act 1980 (Qld), so contact a lawyer or the court before the date if there is any reason you cannot attend.
How bail works for a charge at Southport.
If you are arrested and police are satisfied it is not practicable to bring you before a court promptly, the watch-house or station officer must consider whether to grant you bail or release you on a notice to appear (section 7 of the Bail Act 1980 (Qld)). If police refuse bail, you will be brought before the Magistrates Court, which has a duty to grant bail subject to the rest of the Act (section 9).
Under section 16, a court or police officer must refuse bail if satisfied there is an unacceptable risk that you would fail to appear, commit an offence, endanger the safety or welfare of an alleged victim or anyone else, or interfere with witnesses. In assessing that risk the court looks at matters including the nature and seriousness of the offence, your background and home environment, your history on bail and the strength of the evidence. Where the charge is a domestic violence offence, the risk of further domestic violence is also considered.
For some charges the usual position is reversed, and bail must be refused unless you show cause why your detention in custody is not justified. Show cause situations include an indictable offence alleged to have been committed while you were already on bail for another indictable offence, an indictable offence involving a firearm, offensive weapon or explosive, an offence against the Bail Act 1980 (Qld), and certain domestic violence offences, including choking in a domestic setting and some contraventions of a domestic violence order.
Bail can be granted on your own undertaking, with or without a cash deposit or surety, and with conditions such as reporting, residence or no-contact conditions. If the Magistrates Court refuses bail, a review can be sought in the Supreme Court under section 19B.
If police want to interview you.
Before questioning you about an indictable offence, police must caution you (section 431 of the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 2000 (Qld)). The prescribed caution tells you that you have the right to remain silent, that you do not have to say anything, answer any question or make any statement unless you wish to, and that anything you do say may later be used as evidence.
Police must also tell you before questioning that you may telephone or speak to a lawyer of your choice and arrange for the lawyer to be present, and they must delay questioning for a reasonable time to allow that (section 418). Police can still require you to state your correct name and address in prescribed circumstances, and that is separate from the right to remain silent.
Whether to take part in an interview is a decision to make with advice, not under pressure in an interview room. If police contact you and ask you to come in for a chat, it is sensible to speak to a lawyer before you go.
From the Magistrates Court to the District Court.
Queensland’s Criminal Code divides criminal offences into crimes, misdemeanours and simple offences. Simple offences are dealt with summarily in the Magistrates Court. Crimes and misdemeanours are indictable offences, which are generally prosecuted on indictment in a higher court, although the Code requires or allows many indictable offences to be heard and decided in the Magistrates Court instead.
Where an indictable charge is to go to the District Court, it first passes through committal proceedings in the Magistrates Court. The question at committal is whether the evidence is sufficient to put you on trial (section 104 of the Justices Act 1886 (Qld)). If you are committed, the matter moves to the District Court for trial or, if you plead guilty, for sentence. For matters starting at Southport, that is often the District Court in the same building.
Whether you plead guilty, and when, matters. Under section 13 of the Penalties and Sentences Act 1992 (Qld), a court sentencing you after a guilty plea must take the plea into account and may reduce the sentence, having regard to the time at which you pleaded guilty or told police you intended to.
Protection orders and contravention charges at Southport.
Southport is one of the Queensland courthouses where the Specialist Domestic and Family Violence Court operates. It deals with applications for protection orders and with related criminal charges.
An application for a protection order is a civil proceeding, not a criminal charge. The court may make an order if it is satisfied a relevant relationship exists, that the respondent has committed domestic violence against the aggrieved, and that the order is necessary or desirable to protect the aggrieved (section 37 of the Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 2012 (Qld)). The court need only be satisfied on the balance of probabilities (section 145). A respondent can consent to, or not oppose, an order without admitting the allegations in the application (section 51). Unless the court sets another date, a protection order lasts five years (section 97).
Contravening an order is a criminal offence. Once you were in court when the order was made, have been served with it, or have been told about it by police, breaching it carries a maximum penalty of 120 penalty units or 3 years imprisonment, rising to 240 penalty units or 5 years where you have a domestic violence conviction in the previous five years (section 177). A contravention charge can also put you in a show cause position for bail.
Coercive control became an offence under section 334C of the Criminal Code on 26 May 2025. It applies to an adult who, in a domestic relationship, engages in a course of domestic violence on more than one occasion intending to coerce or control the other person, where that conduct is reasonably likely to cause harm. It is a crime with a maximum penalty of 14 years imprisonment, and it applies only to conduct after it commenced.
Deadlines and risks.
Criminal matters reward early action. A few points worth knowing.
Speak to a lawyer before a police interview. What you say in an interview may later be used as evidence. Once it is recorded, it cannot be taken back.
Read your bail conditions and keep to them. Breaking a bail condition is generally a separate offence under section 29 of the Bail Act 1980 (Qld), and being charged with an offence against that Act puts you in a show cause position for bail.
Do not miss a court date. If you are on bail and fail to appear, the court can issue a warrant for your arrest, and failing to appear is itself an offence unless you had reasonable cause.
Keep to the conditions of any domestic violence order. An order binds you once you were in court when it was made, have been served with it, or have been told about it by police. Contact that breaches a condition can be charged as a criminal offence.
The timing of a plea counts. Courts take into account when a guilty plea was entered or signalled, so the decision on how to plead should be made on advice, early.
Scope of the work.
Assault and violence offences
Common assault, assault occasioning bodily harm, wounding and grievous bodily harm range from matters finalised in the Magistrates Court to charges that must go to the District Court. The charge laid, and whether a circumstance of aggravation is alleged, decides where it is heard and the maximum penalty.
Drug offences
Possession, supplying and producing dangerous drugs, and possessing things used in connection with drug offences. The type and quantity of drug alleged have a large bearing on which court deals with the charge and on the penalty range.
Domestic and family violence offences
Contravention of a domestic violence order under section 177 of the Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 2012 (Qld), and criminal charges committed in a domestic setting, including choking, suffocation or strangulation under section 315A of the Criminal Code. Coercive control, under section 334C of the Criminal Code, has been an offence since 26 May 2025.
Property and dishonesty offences
Stealing, fraud, receiving tainted property, unlawful use of a motor vehicle, wilful damage and burglary. The value involved and any earlier history are usually central to how these charges are dealt with.
Public order and police offences
Public nuisance, obstructing or assaulting police, weapons offences and breach of bail. These are usually dealt with in the Magistrates Court, but the consequences can still include a criminal history and, for a breach of bail, a show cause position on any application for bail.
How Fraser Lawyers acts in these matters.
Fraser Lawyers acts for adults charged with criminal offences at the Southport courthouse, in the Magistrates Court, the District Court and the Specialist Domestic and Family Violence Court. We advise before police interviews, run bail applications, obtain and review the police brief, give a frank assessment of the evidence and the likely penalty range, and then either prepare and present a guilty plea or run a defended hearing where there is a genuine issue. For domestic and family violence matters we act for respondents to protection order applications and for people charged with contravening an order. Traffic charges are handled through our Traffic Lawyers Southport service.
Questions we hear often.
Plain-English answers to the questions clients tend to ask. If your question is not here, call us.
Get in touchWhere is the Southport courthouse?
Queensland Courts lists the Southport Magistrates Court and the Southport District Court at the corner of Davenport and Hinze Streets, Southport. The Specialist Domestic and Family Violence Court also operates at Southport.
Do I have to plead guilty or not guilty at my first court date?
No. The first court date is a mention, which is an administrative listing. You are not required to enter a plea, and an adjournment to obtain legal advice and the police brief is commonly granted.
Do I have to answer police questions?
Before questioning you about an indictable offence, police must caution you that you have the right to remain silent and that anything you say may later be used as evidence. Police can require your correct name and address in certain circumstances. It is sensible to get legal advice before taking part in an interview.
What does "show cause" mean for bail?
For most charges the court must grant bail unless it is satisfied there is an unacceptable risk, such as a risk you would fail to appear or commit further offences. For certain charges, including some domestic violence offences and indictable offences allegedly committed while already on bail, bail must be refused unless you show cause why being held in custody is not justified.
Is a protection order application a criminal charge?
No. An application for a protection order under the Domestic and Family Violence Protection Act 2012 (Qld) is a civil proceeding decided on the balance of probabilities. A respondent can consent to an order without admitting the allegations. Breaching an order once it is made, however, is a criminal offence.
Will my matter go to the District Court?
It depends on the charge. Simple offences and many indictable offences are dealt with in the Magistrates Court. More serious indictable charges go through committal proceedings in the Magistrates Court and then to the District Court for trial or sentence.
Charged with an offence at Southport? Get advice early.
Tell us what you have been charged with and when your court date is, and we will explain where you stand and the practical next steps.
Visit us in Bundall.
Five minutes from Surfers Paradise, ten from Robina. On-site parking. Talk to us about your matter; we will tell you what we think and what the next step is. More about our lawyers in Bundall. Matters listed at the Southport courthouse: traffic lawyers, Southport.
- Office86 Bundall Road, Bundall QLD 4217
- Phone(07) 5554 6116
- Email[email protected]
- HoursMonday to Friday, 8:30am to 5:00pm