VPRS 8479 Court of Petty Sessions Index to Convictions

Indexes to Convictions were created in most Courts of Petty Sessions from the 1880's until the 1960's. Throughout this period, various circular instructions from the Law Department to Clerks of Courts required them to keep an index by surname of convicted person to all criminal convictions and orders made at their court. This index allowed clerks to find the entry for a particular case in the Court's register. Since the mid 1960's Clerks of Courts have not been required to maintain such an index, although a few courts have continued to use informal indexing systems. Although specially printed index books were provided to all courts, the manner in which the index was kept varied from court to court: Usually included in the index were: the names and case details (see below) of all persons found guilty of a criminal charge under Victorian legislation (ie criminal convictions which were entered in the "ordinary" register of the Court of Petty Sessions) Sometimes included in the index were: the names and case details (see below) of all persons found guilty of a criminal charge under Commonwealth legislation (ie criminal convictions which were entered in the Commonwealth Register). These entries were sometimes distinguished from those in the "ordinary" register by being written in red, or by the inclusion in the entry of the letters "Cwth". Not usually included in the index were: references to any civil orders or licensing matters references to defendants in criminal matters who were found not guilty, or where the charges were struck out. after 1918 entries for convictions for truancy, non-vaccination, drunkenness and non-attendance at drill (under the Commonwealth Defence Act) were not required to be indexed.

定罪索引（Indexes to Convictions）自19世纪80年代至20世纪60年代，在大多数治安法院（Court of Petty Sessions）中均有编制。此期间，法务部向法院书记员发布的多份通告均要求，书记员需按照定罪人员的姓氏，对本法院办理的所有刑事定罪及作出的裁定编制索引。该索引可帮助书记员快速检索法院登记册中特定案件的条目。自20世纪60年代中期起，法院书记员不再被要求维护此类索引，但仍有少数法院沿用了非正式的索引编制方式。
尽管所有法院均配发了特制的索引簿，但各法院的索引编制方式各不相同：通常纳入索引的内容包括：所有依据维多利亚州立法被裁定有罪的人员的姓名及案件详情（详见下文），即录入治安法院‘普通’登记册的刑事定罪记录。有时纳入索引的内容还包括：所有依据联邦（Commonwealth）立法被裁定有罪的人员的姓名及案件详情（详见下文），即录入联邦登记册（Commonwealth Register）的刑事定罪记录。此类条目有时会通过红色笔迹书写，或在条目中标注字母"Cwth"，以区别于‘普通’登记册中的条目。
通常不会纳入索引的内容包括：任何民事裁定或许可事项的相关记录；刑事程序中被裁定无罪或指控被撤销的被告人相关记录。1918年之后，针对逃学、未接种疫苗、酗酒以及（根据《联邦国防法（Commonwealth Defence Act）》）未参加训练的定罪记录，无需编制索引。