The courthouse was closed at the beginning of December after an engineering report identified it as being at risk from earthquakes.
Since then, court staff have operated in Timaru and criminal court is held at the Timaru courthouse.
Other hearings such as the Disputes Tribunal are at other sites in Oamaru or being held in Dunedin.
Yesterday, the Otago Daily Times contacted the Ministry of Justice in Wellington to find out what had been done to progress strengthening work.
A spokesman, Steve Corbett, said the work required was being assessed to plan, cost and timetable the projects for all the court buildings needing upgrading.
More information was needed at each individual site, such as what standard buildings would be brought up to, what work was required and how best to carry it out, Mr Corbett said.
"We are still gathering that information and won't have any costings or planning details for a while yet," he said.
Asked if the work could still be completed in Oamaru within the 12 months originally indicated in December, Mr Corbett said: "We are still on track for that".
"Obviously, not all the buildings will need the same amount of work, so there will be some kind of priority list and some may open earlier than others," he said.
In the meantime, a working party of representatives from the Waitaki District Council, law society and other interested parties is still investigating sites to hold criminal court hearings in Oamaru rather than in Timaru. Mr Corbett said the Ministry was still in discussions on alternative sites and some "potentially useful" solutions had been put forward.
"We'll keep talking to them on what progress can be made," he said.
