The Victorian Government has allocated $550,000 in the 2026-27 state budget for the preparation of a masterplan for the former Bendigo Law Courts’ reactivation. The building has remained untouched since 2023, but for the work of the National Trust’s Bendigo and District Branch, who have ceaselessly campaigned to secure ongoing use of the building.

Constructed between 1890 and 1896, the former Bendigo Law Courts are one of Victoria’s finest nineteenth-century public buildings. Designed by architect George William Watson to harmonise with the nearby Post Office, the building was envisioned as a sister piece across Pall Mall. With its lavish fittings, grand staircases, and tiered courtrooms culminating in the imposing Supreme Court at the top level, the building served the state’s court system for almost 130 years. It housed a range of courts, including a Supreme Court, a Warden’s Court, Police Courts, Mining Court, Petty Sessions Court and Magistrates’ Court. 

With plans for Bendigo’s court and tribunal operations to be transferred to a new complex, the Bendigo and District Branch was making representations to local parliamentary members as early as 2018 due to concerns that, once closed, the former Law Courts would quickly fall into disrepair. In 2019, the Branch wrote to the State Government requesting a forward plan for the whole of the Pall Mall precinct. The Branch also made a recommendation in its submission to Greater Bendigo’s Draft Heritage Strategy, that Council develop a plan for Pall Mall by the end of 2024 including investigation of options for re-purposing the building. 

In 2023 the new Bendigo Courts complex was completed and all court and tribunal operations were transferred to the new buildings. At this time, the Law Courts of Pall Mall were emptied and locked up. That same year, the Bendigo Branch called for all levels of government to work with the community towards creation of a precinct to not only protect the buildings of Pall Mall but to give them a new life that also enhanced the visitor experience to Bendigo. 

The Branch attempted to gain access to the former Bendigo Law Courts to run tours for the 2024 Australian Heritage Festival – Victoria’s largest annual celebration of heritage, coordinated by the National Trust – making numerous calls and emails to Courts Victoria and other government departments. Administration staff indicated confusion regarding which department was responsible for the building, as it was in the process of being transferred out of the Courts Victoria portfolio to another Department.

The Branch held fast to its belief that there is strength in collaborative partnerships between Governments and the community, and that it is through this essential collaboration that options for reactivation and uses for the building can be meaningfully explored and the best outcomes achieved.

In late 2024, after much correspondence, phone calls, newspaper articles, radio and even a podcast interview, the Branch received feedback from Court Services Victoria confirming the former Law Courts could be incorporated into the 2025 Australian Heritage Festival. During the festival from 18 April to 18 May 2025, the Bendigo and District Branch ran tours and brought this locked-away civic landmark back to life. 

Over five days, more than 300 people participated in tours, with most sessions booked out. Tour guides, including historians and legal professionals, shared the building’s history while visitors wandered staircases and stood in awe of the Supreme Court chamber. The craftsmanship throughout left a lasting impression: the building retains most of its original furniture, with elaborate plaster mouldings in the French and Italian tradition, former unique gas light fittings, architraves, doors and furniture made from highly polished Australian Cedar, and stained-glass windows.

Visitors were asked to suggest future uses for the building to ensure ongoing public access and activation, with ideas including a creative arts hub, photography studio, high tea venue, artist spaces, museum, and theatrical performance space.

Image: Former Bendigo Law Courts Tour, Australian Heritage Festival 2025. Credit: Peter Legg

In October 2025, the Victorian Heritage Register (VHR) listing for the place was amended, including the addition of objects within the building that contribute to the cultural heritage significance of the place, adding land and specifying what categories of works or activities may be carried out without requiring a permit.

An alliance between the Branch and the Bendigo Historical Society led to an exhibition in July and August 2025, Legal Eagles on the Goldfields, which highlighted historic legal practitioners and punishments and also featured the former Law Courts building. 

Following the success of the tours run for the 2025 Australian Heritage Festival, the Branch moved quickly to confirm that it could again run tours for the 2026 festival. Through this correspondence, they also invited local and state politicians to a special tour of the place, which took place in March 2026.

Staff and Councillors from the City of Greater Bendigo as well as representatives from the state government attended the tour led by the local Branch members. National Trust staff including CEO, Collette Brennan and staff from the Conservation & Advocacy and Assets Teams also attended to support the Branch and assist with discussions. Following the tour, all attendees sat in the former Supreme Court chamber for an engaging brainstorming discussion about opportunities for the future of the place.  Branch members shared their knowledge and National Trust staff talked about their experience in managing and activating similar State listed heritage properties such as the former Magistrates Courts in Melbourne, which is used in conjunction with the Old Melbourne Gaol. 

Image: Former Bendigo Law Courts Tour, Australian Heritage Festival 2025. Credit: Peter Legg

During the 2026 Australian Heritage Festival, tours of the former Law Courts saw 320 tickets sold across nine days, and on the heels of the festival, news that the State Budget had allocated funding to support future planning for the former Bendigo Law Courts was welcomed across the community. 

It is thanks to the years of perseverance by the many volunteers of the National Trust Bendigo and District Branch that progress has finally been made through this commitment from the government.

Image: Former Bendigo Law Courts Tour, Australian Heritage Festival 2025. Credit: Peter Legg