That charter provided that there should be a Supreme Court constituted by a Judge appointed by the King's commission and two Magistrates.

[1][2] Legislation to establish a new supreme court for both New South Wales and Van Diemen's Land was prepared in London by James Stephen, counsel to the Colonial Office, and Francis Forbes, Chief Justice of Newfoundland and Chief Justice-designate of New South Wales.

[3] In consequence of this legislation, letters patent establishing the New South Wales Supreme Court were sealed on 13 October 1823, and proclaimed in Sydney on 17 May 1824.

[6] The Judges threw out an appeal from a convicted computer hacker who had, out of "sheer maliciousness", been posting offensive messages on Ausnet's homepage.

The court's work at first instance is divided between the Common Law Division, which hears civil, criminal and administrative law matters, and the Equity Division, which hears equity, probate, commercial, admiralty, and protective matters.

The two-storey rectangular Georgian building, with an additional loggia and cornice added in 1868, was designed by Francis Greenway in 1819 under the direction of Governor Macquarie.

In the 1860s James Barnet designed additions for the building including an arcaded loggia along the King Street façade and the new classical cornice and parapet for the roof, giving the structure a Victorian Italianate appearance.

[10][11][12] The second structure to house the Court is located immediately the southwest of the Greenway Wing on the corner of Elizabeth Street and St James Road.

Built between 1859 and 1862 and listed on the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 April 1999, the site is now known as the Old Registry Building.

The interior of the courtroom has aesthetic significance and is said to be modelled on St Stephen's Court in Dublin.

The court building is located in St James' Road, opposite the north-western edge of Hyde Park.

The building was designed by architects McConnel Smith and Johnson and received an RAIA Merit Award in 1977 and stands as a strong, singular statement representative of its time and a product of the brutalist school of architecture.

Refurbished in 2009 at a cost of A$214 million, a range of sustainability measures were implemented to extend the life and amenity of the building.