What responsibility do Australians have for jury service (duty to contribute)?

The responsibility for jury service is the civic duty that comes with being on the electoral roll: any Australian citizen enrolled to vote can be summoned to serve as a juror in a criminal or civil court trial. Jury service is treated by the law as a civic obligation comparable to voting, and failing to attend without a valid reason is an offence in every state and territory.

Each state and territory operates its own jury system under its own legislation. The Sheriff's Office or equivalent body selects potential jurors at random from the electoral roll. A summons in the post asks the recipient to attend court on a specified day, usually at one of the major trial courts (the District/County Court for serious criminal matters, the Supreme Court for the most serious matters, specialised courts for specific civil matters). Summons periods are usually one or two weeks, but jurors selected for an actual trial serve for the duration of the trial, which most commonly runs for a few days to two weeks but can extend to months in complex matters.

Jurors are paid a daily allowance set by each state, ranging from about 100 to 300 dollars a day. Employers must allow time off for jury service under federal and state law, and many top up the jury allowance to ordinary pay. Some categories are exempt or excused. Professionals in the legal system (judges, lawyers, police officers), Members of Parliament, doctors and pharmacists in active practice, and ministers of religion are usually exempt. People aged over 70 or 75 (the age varies by state), people with disability, sole carers of young children, and people facing substantial hardship can apply to be excused.

Jury deliberation is one of the most important moments in Australian democratic life. After hearing evidence and the judge's directions on the law, the jury retires to consider the verdict. Juries in criminal cases must in most states reach a unanimous verdict; some states accept majority verdicts (10 of 12, or 11 of 12) after a minimum period of deliberation. Civil juries (used in defamation and some other matters) decide on the balance of probabilities. Jurors are sworn to secrecy about the deliberations, a protection that endures after the trial ends. The right to a jury trial is a long-standing common-law principle, embedded in Australian criminal procedure since federation.