New legislation modernises jury service and expands employment protections for jurors

Monday, 17 March 2025

New legislation now operating in NSW will make it easier for people to serve on a jury by expanding employment protections for jurors who are working part-time and allowing jury summons and notices to be sent by email instead of post.

Jury service is one of the most important and rewarding parts of our justice system. The Jury Amendment Act 2024 makes a number of improvements that streamline processes for jurors, the courts and the NSW Sheriff’s Office.

Changes, in force from March 10, follow a review of indictable processes in the District Court and Supreme Court, led by the former Chief Judge of the District Court. They include:

• Expanding employment protections for jurors to include part-time employees.  Employers will no longer be able to make part-time workers use their leave or undertake additional work because they are summoned to serve on a jury. These protections previously only applied to full-time and casual workers.
• Allowing the NSW Sheriff’s Office to send a jury summons, notice or other document by email, rather than by post, in circumstances where a potential juror has consented to the use of their email address and provided it for that purpose.
• Allowing the Sheriff of NSW to investigate a wider range of improper conduct by jurors during a trial. Sheriff’s officers will also be able to investigate improper conduct by third parties in relation to a juror.
• Clarifying what constitutes “good cause” when a juror asks to be excused or exempted from jury service to include a temporary disability or other physical or mental condition. This ensures potential jurors are excused early, reducing the risk they are discharged during a trial.
• Giving judges the ability to empanel up to three extra jurors in a wider range of trials where jurors may be discharged due to complex or distressing content. Previously this only applied to trials that were two weeks or longer.
• Allowing people summoned for jury service to write a note asking to be excused, rather than mentioning their reason out loud to the judge. This was previously only allowed if their reason was health related or may have caused embarrassment or distress if made public.
• No longer requiring courts to make a formal order in criminal proceedings permitting a jury to separate at the end of each day while they are deliberating. This aims to increase trial efficiency by removing an outdated technical requirement that juries remain sequestered.

Attorney General Michael Daley said:

“Jurors play a key role in our justice system, and these changes will make it easier for jurors to be empanelled and to fulfill their important duty.

“We made these changes after a review led by the former Chief Judge of the District Court, which identified processes that could be improved or streamlined.

“The changes modernise the jury process and allow jurors to focus on their task of being judges of the facts.

“Importantly, part-time employees now have the same protection as other workers when they are summoned to serve on a jury. No one should have to face adverse consequences from their employer for playing such an important role in our justice system.”