Court Registry Officer

Public Defence Service - New Zealand; Whanganui; On-site; NZD 61,000 - 81,000; Full time

Benefits offered by this job

4.4 weeks holiday leave

Flexible work hours where possible

Online professional development portal

Access to inclusive networks

Job summary

Public Defence Service - New Zealand is seeking a Court Registry Officer for Palmerston North, permanent full-time. You will join a team ensuring smooth court operation, liaising with defendants, witnesses, families, lawyers and police, while communicating confidently with Judges in court and chambers.

You will handle court taking, customer service and case management with attention to detail, while adapting to evolving legislation and processes in a busy environment.

Qualifications

• Must be detail oriented and observant to ensure accuracy.
• Self-awareness to adapt across varied situations.
• Ability to multi-task and manage conflicting priorities.
• Willingness to learn legislation and court processes.
• Demonstrated resilience in high-volume, sensitive cases.

Responsibilities

• Court Taking: facilitate court, introduce Judges, support in Courtroom and Chambers.
• Customer Service: answer queries face-to-face, by phone or email.
• Case Management: ensure files are accurate and data entry heavy.

Skills

Detail orientated

Self-aware

Multi-task

Willing to learn

Resilience

Job description

Job Description

Palmerston North – Permanent/Full Time

Te Haeata/The Opportunity

As a Court Registry Officer, you will work with a team responsible for the successful operation of the Court. You will liaise with multiple stakeholders including defendants, witnesses, family members, Oranga Tamariki, Lawyers, and Police Officers. You will be able to communicate confidently with Judges within the courtroom and their chambers, as well as other members of the judiciary.

Your Main Responsibilities Will Include

• Court Taking – this is the facilitating the running of the court. This includes introducing Judges (in English and Te Reo Maori), working closely with them in the Courtroom and Chambers, managing jurors and general administration of the court.
• Customer Service – all courts have an onsite Customer Service area or hub that customers can access for any court related matter. You will work to answer customer queries via face to face, phone or email interactions.
• Case Management – this involves ensuring files are accurate and up to date. This part of the role involves a large component of data entry.

Ō Pūkenga/Skills And Experience

• Detail orientated and observant – the court has many different processes and case information needs to be accurate.
• Self-aware – you'll understand our customers and will be confident working across a range of situations.
• Multi-task – you'll understand that some of our processes are repetitive, but you'll be able to manage conflicting priorities and move from one task to another quickly.
• Willing to learn – legislation and processes in the courts is always changing and you will be able to adapt and respond to feedback.
• Resilience – there are times when working in the courts, you will be working on sensitive cases and sometimes at high volume.

Mō mātou/About us

At Te Tāhū o te Ture - the Ministry of Justice, we're committed to strengthening people's trust in the law of Aotearoa, New Zealand.

Creating a continuous learning environment is important to us. As the successful applicant, you will bring your thirst for knowledge and improvement. You will have an individual training plan and be supported to carry out the role including be able to exercise Deputy Registrar Powers.

As an organisation we support our people with building their wellbeing knowledge and understanding offering a range of wellbeing tools and support.

Joining Te Tāhū o te Ture means you will become part of an organisation that welcomes and supports people of all gender identities, ages, ethnicities, sexual orientations, disabilities and religions.

Ngā painga o tēnei wāhi mahi/What’s great about working here

Benefits

• 4.4 weeks holiday leave
• flexible work hours where possible
• an online professional development portal
• access to a variety of inclusive and proactive networks

See our full range of benefits here.

With a wide range of jobs, you also get the chance to gain a variety of skills and experience while developing your career.

Utu ā-tau/Salary

The remuneration band for this role is $60,729 and $80,794. The appointing salary for this role will be between $60,729 and $64,451 - based on skills and experience.

Applications close on 18 September 2026, however we will be reviewing CV's as they come in and inviting successful candidates to interview before the close date.

If you have any questions, please contact [e-mail].