What happened
Court Services Victoria (CSV) said in July 2026 that there had been unauthorised access to some information used to link court participants to online hearings at the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria and the Children’s Court of Victoria between 2022 and 2026 [csv-2026-stmt], [csv-2026-faq]. The hearings were at court locations including Bendigo, Castlemaine, Echuca, Kerang, Kyneton, Maryborough, Mildura, Ouyen, Robinvale and Swan Hill [csv-2026-stmt].
CSV said the affected system is separate from its Case Management System, that it shut down the access method, and that the incident did not affect other Victorian jurisdictions [csv-2026-stmt], [csv-2026-faq]. A hacker using the name “2019” claimed in a 15 July forum post to have accessed court systems and more than 28,600 lines of court records; that figure is the hacker’s claim [csv-2026-lw].
This is a separate incident from CSV’s December 2023 breach of court hearing recordings.
Data exposed
Per CSV: case titles and numbers, hearing dates and times, courtrooms and participant names — some of which was already public — as well as email addresses and descriptions of each person’s role, such as lawyer, court staff or observer [csv-2026-stmt]. CSV said the data was often incomplete, inaccurate and complex, and that it is unable to verify the number of people and matters affected [csv-2026-faq]. No count of people affected has been disclosed, and none is estimated here.
Timeline
- 2026-07-15 — A hacker claimed access to court systems in a forum post [csv-2026-lw].
- 2026-07 — The incident occurred, per CSV [csv-2026-faq].
- 2026-07-30 — CSV published its statement and FAQs [csv-2026-stmt], [csv-2026-faq].
Current status
Disclosed. CSV says all relevant authorities have been notified and that its investigation is ongoing [csv-2026-stmt]. No regulator has published anything about the incident.
Why it matters
Even administrative data about court hearings — who attended, in what role, on which matter — can be sensitive, particularly in the Children’s Court, where participants may need protection.