Major new police powers legislation came into force in Queensland on April 6, 1998 with the proclamation of the Police Powers and Responsibilities Act 1997. The legislation introduced an alternative way of starting criminal proceedings. Instead of arresting and charging a person, or serving a summons, police may now issue a notice, similar to an infringement notice, called a Notice to Appear (NTA), which requires the defendant to appear in a nominated court on a designated date. The paper explains why NTAs were introduced, examines how frequently and for what types of offenses they are being used by police and describes at what point NTAs are issued. The paper also looks at the impact of NTAs on other areas of the criminal justice system, including police watchhouse workloads, complaints against police, rates of failure-to-appear in court and the number of criminal proceedings started by police. Figures, tables, references, notes, abbreviations