• The Magistrates Research Project was funded initially by a University–Industry Research Collaborative Grant in 2000, ‘The Changing Role of the Magistrates Court’ with Flinders University and the Association of Australian Magistrates (‘AAM’),  led by the then President Fred Field and the AAM Executive, including Peter Dixon (Tasmania), Lance Martin (Victoria), Sheryl Cornack (Queensland), Robert Abood (New South Wales), Anthony Gillies (Northern Territory), Bob Lawrence (Western Australia), Andrew Cannon (South Australia), Gary Gumpl (South Australia), Bill McKay (Queensland) and Karen Fryar (Australian Capital Territory). It also received financial and practical support from the Australasian Institute of Judicial Administration (‘AIJA’).

• From 2002 until 2005, it was funded by an Australian Research Council (‘ARC’) Linkage Project Grant (LP0210306), ‘The Changing Role of the Magistrates Court’ with AAM and all Chief Magistrates and their courts as industry partners and with support from Flinders University as the host institution.  Magistrates Court ACT: Chief Magistrate Ron Cahill,  Martin Toohey and later Jennifer Cooke Court Administrator; Local Court of New South Wales: Chief Magistrate Patricia Staunton and later Graeme Henson, Laurie Glanfield, Director General, Attorney-General’s Department; Magistrates Court Northern Territory: Chief Magistrate Hugh Bradley, Lyn McDade CEO, Office of Courts Administration; Magistrates Court Queensland: Chief Magistrate Diane Fingleton and later Judge Marshall Irwin, Garry Robinson and later Paul Marschke, Court Administrator; Magistrates Court South Australia: Chief Magistrate Alan Moss, Robert Lindsay, Director, Magistrates Court, Courts Administration Authority and William Cossey CEO Courts Administration Authority; Magistrates Court Tasmania: Chief Magistrate Arnold Schott, Jim Connolly, Administrator of Courts; Magistrates Court Victoria: Chief Magistrate Ian Gray, Pat Armstrong CEO; Court of Petty Sessions and Local Courts Western Australia: Chief Magistrate Steven Heath, Pauline Phillips, Director Magistrates Courts and Tribunals Ministry of Justice.
  • Total = $1,135,764
    • ARC contribution: $510,120 cash
    • Industry partners: $111,000 cash and $514,644 in kind support

• From 2006-2008, the Judicial Research Project was funded by an ARC Discovery Grant (DP0665198) ‘The Australian Judiciary: A National Socio-legal Study’.
  • Total = $505,000

• The Workload Allocation Study has been funded by an ARC Linkage Project Grant (LP0669168) 2006–09,’Judicial Officers and Workload Allocation’ with the Magistrates Courts of Victoria (Ian Gray, Chief Magistrate; Mick Francis and later Charlotte Stockwell, CEO) South Australia (Kelvyn Prescott later Elizabeth Bolton, Chief Magistrate; Robert Lindsay, Director, Magistrates Court, Courts Administration Authority) and the Northern Territory (Hugh Bradley, and later Jenny Blokland, Chief Magistrate; Greg Shanahan, Executive Director, Court Services, Department of Justice) as well as the AIJA (Professor Greg Reinhardt, Executive Director) as collaborating organisations.

• • Total = $332,888
    • ARC contribution: $117,888
    • Industry partners: $48,000 cash and $167,000 in kind support

• From 2010-2013 additional funding was supplied by ARC Discovery Grant DP1096888 ‘Courts, the Judiciary and Social Change’.
  • $370,000

• In 2012, funding was received from the Academy of the Social Sciences in Australia International Program Grant to co-host the Workshop on Judicial Performance Evaluation, held at the International Institute for the Sociology of Law, Spain, May 2013 ($28,000).

• In 2013, research support grant funding was provided by the School of Social and Policy Studies with Professor Kathy Mack: ‘Humour in the Australian Courtroom’ ($3930).

• In 2013, further funding was provided by research grants from the School of Social and Policy Studies, and the Faculty of Education, Humanities and Law, Flinders University, to use the JRP/MRP data to investigate issues outside those raised by the ARC grants, and to support the visit of Dr Stina Bergman Blix of Stockholm University ($5000).

• In 2013, the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia provided funding to support an international workshop on ‘Evaluating Judicial Performance’ hosted by the International Institute for the Sociology of Law in Oñati, Spain.  Additional support was provided by the National Center for State Courts, USA.