Search Planning and Environment Court files

Parties to Planning and Environment (P&E) Court proceedings can access court files online using the eCourts party search facility.

This means you don’t need to visit the court registry in person.

eCourts covers active P&E Court files in Brisbane, Cairns, Maroochydore, Southport, and Townsville.

You can search, download, and print documents, though some materials are restricted due to confidentiality.

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Note: The listing date calendar is not working properly. Instead, type the dates directly into the relevant boxes: dd/mm/yyyy (e.g. 01/06/2025).

Ways to search

Search by party name

  • Enter the party name in the ‘Last/Company name’ field.
  • Refine your search by selecting the court, location, or file type if known.

Search by file number

  • Enter the file number in the ‘File number’ field (e.g. 234/02).
  • Specify the court and location if known.

Refining search results

  • Use the ‘Narrow search’ button to limit results to exact matches.
  • Use the ‘Widen search’ button to include results where the search term appears anywhere in the name.
  • Add additional parameters (e.g. date range, jurisdiction) by selecting ‘Refine search’.

Date-based searches

  • Enter dates in the format dd/mm/yyyy (e.g. 01/06/2025).
  • Limiting by date or location can improve search accuracy.

Search tips

  • Replace spaces with ‘%’ (e.g. g%james% for ‘G James Glass & Aluminium Pty Ltd’).
  • Use ‘and’ instead of ‘&’ (e.g. smith%and% for ‘Smith & Reid Pty Ltd’).
  • For organisations starting with ‘The’, omit ‘The’ unless the file predates 2000.
  • Narrow your search by date to avoid exceeding the 500-record limit.

Available files

The eCourts system provides access to files in each of the Planning and Environment Court locations.

See the table below for the earliest available records online for each court registry.

LocationFiles from
Brisbane1 January 1992
Cairns1 July 2002
Maroochydore1 October 2003
Southport1 October 2003
Townsville1 November 1996

Note: Data is updated in real time, subject to network availability.

Files in other locations

For files held outside these locations, documents must be obtained directly from the court registry where the matter was filed.

Document availability

There may be a delay between when a document is filed and when it becomes available online.

If a document is missing or you experience technical issues, contact the court registry for help.

Confidential documents

Certain documents, such as mediation agreements or commercial-in-confidence materials, are confidential and cannot be accessed online or from the registry.

Additional features of eCourts

FeatureDescription
View file detailsSelect a file in the search results to view its summary
Printable resultsSelect 'Printable version' to print search results or file summaries.
Save to favouritesAdd file summaries to your browser favourites for quick access.

Electronic filing requirements

Parties filing P&E Court documents must provide an electronic version on a USB, as per Practice Direction 1 of 2016 (PDF, 359.0 KB).