Victorian magistrates fume as plans to replace court’s outdated IT system blows out by $40m

A major project to replace an outdated tech system in the state’s busiest court network has blown out by an eye-watering $40m, as insiders claim it risks creating a larger backlog of cases. 

A long-overdue IT update in the state’s busiest court network has blown out by almost $40m and is almost four years overdue.

Amid the bungled rollout, senior justice figures say the much-anticipated new system risks being unfit for purpose and could lead to even bigger case backlogs.

Technical complexities have been blamed for the project’s completion date being pushed out four years later than its original 2021 timeline.

It means while the new Case Management System has been introduced for civil matters, criminal cases are still being managed by the 1980s paper-based system, CourtLink.

Then attorney-general Martin Pakula announced the new system in 2017, saying it would be operating by July 2021.

He said it would address significant issues with the CourtLink system including its limited ability to exchange data with other agencies, a reliance on manual data entry and outdated, unsupported technology.

But senior judicial figures have sounded the alarm on the new system, warning it is likely to produce an increase in court backlogs.

“CourtLink is clunky and not intuitive, but seems to work,” one said.

“Magistrates used to speak poorly about it, until they met CMS. They now eulogise about the good old days of CourtLink.

“Magistrates are dreading CMS coming in for crime. They say it will slow up the court dramatically.

“It is myki 2.0.”

Victorian magistrates have been left infuriated over the bungled rollout. Picture: supplied

In 2017 a Magistrates Court of Victoria and Victims of Crime Assistance Tribunal joint submission to the Victorian Law Reform Commission’s review of the Victims of Crime Assistance Act complained that the system was outdated, inadequate and had not evolved to reflect “the ­increased complexity and breadth of the courts’ caseload nor the massive increase in the volume of cases each court is now required to manage”.

“This creates significant ­operational and organisational risk and heavily impacts upon the courts’ ability to develop and deliver a modern, integrated service delivery model,” it said.

Every year the system handles hundreds of thousands of cases and more than one million transactions.

A Court Services Victoria spokesman said the new system would ultimately “create a more modern, efficient and user-friendly system for the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria and the children’s court, enhancing access to justice for Victorians”.

“The build of the system for usage across criminal matters in both courts is highly complex and progressing rapidly, with the system expected to be available for usage by court staff and external parties in 2025.”

Opposition spokesman Michael O’Brien said the rollout was the latest “botched Labor IT project that is costing taxpayers and damaging justice”.

“Victorian courts are facing enormous backlogs and a $20m budget cut under Labor,” he said. “Bungled IT rollouts just make the job of magistrates even harder.

“This rollout has been ­delayed time and time again. It’s just not good enough”.