Guide to searching

Below is a guide to searching the eCourts party and document search facility.

Note: Searching is not available for all Queensland Courts. See available files for courts that can be accessed and the commencement date for this information.

Search results options

The search application automatically searches for a partial match on the beginning of the ‘Last/Company name’ field. For example, if you search for ‘Smith’, you’ll receive matches for anything that starts with Smith, such as Smith, Smithers, Smith & Sons, etc.

• To narrow the search results to show only matches for ‘Smith’, click the ‘Narrow search’ button below the results.
• To widen the search to return matches that contain ‘smith’ anywhere in the ‘Last/Company name’ field (e.g. Fred Smith Pty Ltd), click the ‘Widen search’ button below the results.
• To add extra parameters to your search (such as a year or court jurisdiction), click the ‘Refine search’ button to return to the party search page containing your original search parameters below the results.
• In the Party search screen, under ‘Party details’ type the party name in the ‘Last/Company name’ field.
• If known, also select the ‘Court’ and/or ‘Location’ and/or ‘File type’.
• If you know the file number, type it in the ‘File Number’ field.
• If known, also select ‘Supreme’ or ‘District’ from the dropdown list in the ‘Court’ field.
• If known, also select the ‘Location’ from the drop-down list in the ‘Currently in’ field or ‘Originated in’ field.
• For example, to search for Brisbane District Court file number 234 of 2002, type 234/02 in the ‘File Number’ field, select ‘District’ from the dropdown list in the ‘Court’ field, and select ‘Brisbane’ from the dropdown list in the ‘Currently in’ field.

Other search tips

Searching by party name

• In the Party search screen, under ‘Party details’ type the party name in the ‘Last/Company name’ field.
• If known, also select the ‘Court’ and/or ‘Location’ and/or ‘File type’.

Searching by file number

• If you know the file number, type it in the ‘File Number’ field.
• If known, also select ‘Supreme’ or ‘District’ from the dropdown list in the ‘Court’ field.
• If known, also select the ‘Location’ from the drop-down list in the ‘Currently in’ field or ‘Originated in’ field.
• For example, to search for Brisbane District Court file number 234 of 2002, type 234/02 in the ‘File Number’ field, select ‘District’ from the dropdown list in the ‘Court’ field, and select ‘Brisbane’ from the dropdown list in the ‘Currently in’ field.

Note: See what files are available for eCourts.

More search tips

• If you know the file number and court, all other fields are optional.
• If you know a name, all other fields are optional.
• The search results screen returns only 500 records in ascending chronological order.
• For a more successful result, try limiting your search by date.
• Limiting your search by ‘Location’ will help return only the file you seek. The ‘Originated in’ location refers to the registry where the file was initially lodged.
• To perform a date-based search, enter the date in the format dd/mm/yy. For example, for files entered after 1 June 2002, enter 1/6/02 in the ‘Date from’ field.
• Files of the same number and court may appear in your search. These files will have originated in different registries. For example, there may be a file 100/02 in Brisbane Supreme Court as well as Townsville, Cairns and Rockhampton Supreme Courts.
• If searching for Brisbane City Council, try date-limiting your search, as the council may appear as Brisbane City Council, The Council of the City of Brisbane, BCC or B.C.C.
• If you’re unsuccessful in searching for the ‘State of Queensland’ or any statutory body that begins with ‘The’, leave ‘The’ out of your search text. Simply type ‘State of Queensland’. (However, if that file commenced prior to the year 2000, you may need to type ‘The’ at the beginning of the ‘Last/Company name’.)
• Don’t type spaces where they would normally appear in a name. Type % signs instead. For example, if you search for ‘G James Glass & Aluminum Pty Ltd’, type G%JAMES% instead.
• Don't use the ‘&’ character in your search. For example, if you search for ‘Smith & Reid Pty Ltd’, type smith%and% instead.