Have you received a Notice of Selection in the mail? Then you've been randomly selected for jury service, and may be required to attend court and potentially serve on a jury.
What you need to do:
- Complete the Eligibility Form, either online or the paper form, and submit it back to us
If you are applying to be excused, you will need to provide relevant information to support your application.
Juries Victoria sends Notices of Selection with attached Eligibility Forms multiple times a year to people randomly selected from the Victorian Electoral Roll.
These forms aim to notify you of your random selection for jury service, and to find out whether you are eligible and available to serve on a jury during a proposed period of time.
Next steps
If you are eligible, you will receive a jury summons to attend on a specific date.
If you are ineligible, or successfully apply to be excused, you will be granted a 12 month exemption from jury service. After this time, you will be eligible for random selection, and may be selected for jury service again.
Further information
Do I have to complete the Eligibility Form?
Yes, by law you must complete and submit the Eligibility Form, even if you believe you are not eligible or available to undertake jury service.
If you do not complete the form and submit it to us, you can be fined over $4,800 under section 67 of the Juries Act 2000 (Vic).
What if I cannot attend during the proposed period?
You are not expected to attend for the entirety of the proposed period. If you are eligible and available for jury service, you will be summoned for a specific date within that period.
If you are unavailable for some of the proposed period, you can nominate inconvenient dates on your form, and we will block those out.
If you are unable to attend during the majority of the proposed period, you can nominate to have your service deferred to a month within 3 months from the end of the period instead.
Can I be excused from jury service?
If you have a genuine and valid reason, you may be excused from jury service. Valid reasons are listed below.
If you are applying to be excused, you will need to provide relevant information to support your application. If you are applying to be excused for medical reasons, you must provide a medical certificate.
Please note, work commitments are not considered a valid reason to be excused from jury service, unless you are self-employed or work for a small business.
What are valid reasons to be excused?
You may be permanently exempted from jury service for these reasons:
- Aged 70 or over
- Medical reasons (requires a medical certificate)
Valid reasons to be excused from jury service are:
- Medical reasons (requires a medical certificate)
- Distance (more than 50km from Melbourne County Court, or 60km from the circuit court in your region)
- Self-employed or independent contractor (requires ABN and trading name)
- Casual worker with unpredictable shifts/hours (requires further information regarding employment)
- Work for a small business (requires further information regarding total size of your company's workforce, and leave arrangements)
- Primary carer during business hours
- Student or apprentice during business hours
- Other reason (requires further information on why you think your reason should be considered valid to be excused)
Work is not a valid reason to be excused from jury service, unless you are self-employed or work for a small business.
Will I be paid?
Jury payments are $40 per day for the first 6 days and $80 per day thereafter. This is paid to you via either direct deposit into the account nominated in the online Juror Portal, or a cheque mailed to your residential address.
Under section 52 of the Juries Act 2000 (Vic), employers must pay their employees who are on jury service the difference between what they receive in jury payments and what they would reasonably expect to earn had they not attended for jury service.
This includes any penalties, allowances, or loadings you would reasonably expect to have received.
This applies equally to full time and part time employees, as well as casual employees, in most cases. If you are a casual employee, please call Juries Victoria to discuss your circumstances.
In Victoria, your employer is required to make up the pay of their employee for the entire length of their jury service, regardless of how long it is.
The Juries Act 2000 (Vic) supersedes the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) and all enterprise bargaining agreements and employment contracts, meaning it must be adhered to without exception.
I'm over the 14 days given to complete and submit my Eligibility Form
Don't panic if you are over the 14 days for completing and submitted the Eligibility Form. We understand circumstances may prevent you from adhering to this, and there is therefore a grace period on this deadline.
You will however need to complete the form and submit it to us as soon as possible beyond the 14 day period. If you have concerns about a substantial delay in submitting your form, you can contact our office and speak to one of our friendly staff.
Having trouble logging into the Juror Portal?
Some internet browsers default to the American date format, where the month is listed first (i.e. MM/DD/YYYY). If you are having difficulty logging into the Juror Portal, please try entering your date of birth in the American date format instead.
Please note: If you make 3 unsuccessful login attempts, your account will be locked for 2 hours. You can try again after this time, or call Juries Victoria on 03 8636 6800.