March 13, 2025
The number of people who appeared in Kingaroy Magistrates Court rose by more than 21 per cent in 2023-24, figures tabled by Attorney-General Deb Frecklington in State Parliament have shown.
The annual report of the Queensland Magistrates Courts For 2023-24 revealed 773 defendants appeared in the Kingaroy court, up 12.2 per cent on the previous year.
But the number of defendants in other South Burnett courts actually dropped during the same period: by 22 per cent in Murgon, 15 per cent in Nanango and 43 per cent in Cherbourg.
The number of appearances in the Children’s Court rose from 83 to 92 in Kingaroy, but dropped from 104 to 76 in Murgon and from four to two in Nanango.
The number of Domestic and Family Violence Protection Orders issued by the South Burnett courts dropped from 556 in 2022-23 to 377 in 2023-24.
In Queensland as a whole, the number of defendants appearing before Magistrates Courts on criminal charges dropped by 2.7 per cent to 163,197, although the number of charges rose by 2.9 per cent.
The report was tabled in State Parliament on February 21.
