Eligibility for Jury Service and Disqualification from Jury Service

Eligibility

Eligibility for jury service is dealt with in section 23DH of the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976.

Section 23DH(1) provides that a person is qualified for jury service in the Federal Court of Australia if their name is on the jury roll for the relevant jury district and they are entitled to vote at elections for Members of the House of Representatives.

Disqualification: professional reasons

Disqualification for professional reasons is dealt with in section 23DJ of the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976, the Jury Exemption Act 1965, the Jury Exemption Regulations, and section 89 of the Navigation Act 1912.

Taken together, those provisions provide a list of people who are not eligible for jury service in the Federal Court of Australia because of their professional background. The list is at Attachment 1.

If you think that you may be disqualified from jury service because of your professional background, you should check the list at Attachment 1 to see if any of the categories apply to you.

Note that the list at Attachment 1 includes any person who is excluded by a State or Territory law from serving as a juror in a court of that State or Territory because the person’s duties or activities are connected with public administration or emergency services.

The relevant provisions of State and Territory law can be found in the following Acts:

• New South Wales: Jury Act 1977
• Victoria: Juries Act 2000
• Queensland: Jury Act 1995
• Western Australia: Juries Act 1957
• South Australia: Juries Act 1927
• Tasmania: Juries Act 2003
• Australian Capital Territory: Juries Act 1967
• Northern Territory: Juries Act

Disqualification: criminal history

Disqualification because of criminal history is dealt with in section 23DI of the Federal Court of Australia Act 1976. A copy of section 23DI is at Attachment 2.

If you think that you may be disqualified from jury service because you have a criminal history, you should check Attachment 2 to see if any of the categories set out in subsection 23DI(1) apply to you.

Copies of legislation

All relevant Commonwealth Acts and Regulations can be accessed through the Federal Register of Legislation at https://www.legislation.gov.au.

State and Territory Acts can be accessed through http://www.austlii.edu.au.

Further information

You can contact the Sheriff of the Federal Court by:

• email at sheriff@fedcourt.gov.au, or
• phone at (02) 9230 8567 (ask to speak to a jury officer).

Last updated: January 2018