[1] At its inception, the Court consisted of four judges: Sydney Howard Good, William Page Pidgeon, Desmond Charles Heenan and Robert Edmond Jones.

The current Chief Judge of the District Court is Julie Anne Wager, who has held the position since 2 May 2020.

[4] Following World War II, Western Australia experienced positive annual population growth of approximately 3%.

[4] Whilst the issues were identified in the middle of the 1960s, government officials delayed the introduction of the Court in order to consult legal professionals and their bodies, such as the Law Society of Western Australia.

A sub-committee within the Law Society was established and recommended a District Court that would serve the entire Western Australian state,[1] with a base in Perth and rotational registrars in other localities.

An alternative proposal was investigated by the then Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of Western Australia, Sir Albert Wolff KCMG, which would be to establish an intermediary court in the north of Western Australia to accommodate growing populations.

[7] According to Griffith (1969), the District Court was introduced to "enable adequate administration of justice in our expanding community.

[8] A more recent development has been the introduction of electronic document filing and trial systems for civil proceedings.

[9] It is a superior court, meaning it has unlimited jurisdiction for criminal matters and derives its power from legislation.

[26] The District Court's current residence at 500 Hay Street was the location of the former St George's Hall,[26] which was an entertainment theatre built in 1879.

[26] The District Court has 12 other registries, located at Albany, Broome, Bunbury, Busselton, Carnarvon, Derby, Esperance, Geraldton, Kalgoorlie, Karratha, Kununurra, and South Hedland, which hear predominantly criminal trials.

Judges are appointed by the Governor of Western Australia,[30] and enjoy tenure of office on the condition of good behaviour, although the Governor can "upon the address of both Houses of Parliament, remove any District Court judge from his office and revoke his commission".