An accused person will ordinarily have their first opportunity to apply for bail before a court at the time of a Filing Hearing (when charges are filed in the Magistrates' Court in respect of indictable offences) or at the first scheduled "mention" of indictable charges that are proceeding by way of summary jurisdiction. In relation to either of these situations, the Magistrate will enquire as to whether or not the accused person is to be remanded in custody until a further hearing date or is to proceed with either a contested or un-opposed application for bail.

A person in custody who wishes to apply for bail in the Magistrates' Court must file an application with the court and serve a copy of the application on the prosecution and the informant (the police officer who laid the charge). If the bail application is listed to be heard on a date prior to the next listed hearing date for the charges, a gaol order must be obtained from the Magistrates' Court and forwarded to the Prisoner Movements section of the Office of Corrections to ensure that the applicant is brought to court for the hearing of their bail application.

In the Magistrates' Court the material placed before the court is usually given orally (i.e. viva voce) although it is common for letters of employment, drug/rehabilitation reports and references to be tendered on behalf of an applicant. Any document that is to be relied upon should be provided to the Prosecution and the Informant prior to the hearing.

At the conclusion of a committal hearing an accused who has been committed to stand trial is entitled to make an application for bail regardless of how many previous applications they may have previously made. Once committed to stand trial, any future bail applications must be made to the higher court following the first hearing of the matter in that court. Until that stage is reached the Magistrates' Court can still exercise jurisdiction under the Bail Act.

Once an accused person's case is listed in the County Court or the Supreme Court and they wish to apply for bail, an application and affidavit in support must be filed with the court and served on the prosecution and the informant. The affidavit should provide sufficient detail about the circumstances of the applicant and the reasons why bail is justified. The prosecution are required to provide an affidavit in response. This is usually sworn by the informant or if not, the affidavit exhibits a report prepared by them.

Upon the filing of the application the Criminal Registry of the County or Supreme Court will arrange a gaol order for the applicant to be brought to court for the hearing. This cannot be done by videolink; the applicant must appear in person.

Irrespective of whether an accused has been committed to stand trial in the Supreme Court, the court has inherent jurisdiction to hear a bail application at any time during the course of a case through the criminal justice system. So whether a case is still in the preliminary stages in the Magistrates' Court or just before trial in the County Court, the Supreme Court can determine an application for bail.

An important issue for an applicant who is considering making an application to the Supreme Court is whether the application is premature, and that if bail is refused future applications to the Magistrates' Court or County Court may be rendered futile.