Jury duty in the ACT: current pay, excusal and your next step

What to do with an ACT jury summons

The Juries Act draws liability from the ACT electoral roll, subject to qualification and exemption rules. Receiving a summons does not mean you are accused of an offence or will necessarily be selected for a trial. Use the official link or QR code on your summons to access the portal with your ACT Digital Account.

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The portal FAQ explains submissions, notifications and alternative telephone assistance. Jury Management Unit: (02) 6207 4269, Monday–Friday 8 am–3:30 pm; information@jury.courts.act.gov.au. If illness or an emergency prevents attendance, contact it promptly. A call or email does not itself grant excusal.

Who can request excusal, exemption or a later date?

The Juries Regulation distinguishes disqualified people, exempt people and people who may claim exemption. Categories and periods differ; a criminal history does not produce one universal answer. Section 13 of the Act requires the Sheriff to be informed and to excuse attendance after summons, even where the person is not liable, qualified or otherwise exempt.

Section 14 allows a judge or the Sheriff to excuse attendance for sufficient reason, including pregnancy, illness and care of children or aged/ill people. Section 15 addresses multiple coworkers or partners summoned together where attendance would substantially inconvenience or adversely affect the establishment or partnership. Ordinary work pressure or self-employment is not an automatic exemption.

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A deferral requests a later date; an excusal concerns the particular service. Select from the official choices, retain submission proof and check the outcome. Under section 26A, refusal to withdraw a summons on the specified qualification/exemption/excusal grounds can be reviewed on written application to a judge. Seek prompt guidance about the actual decision; do not treat this as a general appeal from every portal decision.

ACT jury-duty pay from 1 July 2026

Section 51 provides attendance payment whether or not you are selected to serve. The 2026 payment determination replaced the 2025 determination on 1 July 2026. The amount depends on attendance hours and service day; older online dollar examples should not be used.

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Example: a qualifying first-day attendance longer than four hours is $135.40 remuneration plus $22.80 travel, totalling $158.20 before any applicable employment arrangements. Public servants should check their agency’s paid-leave/payment arrangements with payroll and the Jury Management Unit; do not assume both full salary and court remuneration can be retained. Section 51A has a discretionary route for certain expenses arising after swearing in circumstances that would earlier have justified excusal; it is not a general promise to repay business losses.

Does your employer have to make up your pay?

Under Fair Work Act section 111, a non-casual employee taking qualifying jury-service leave is entitled to base pay for ordinary hours, less relevant jury-service pay, for the first ten days of work absence under a particular summons. These are work-absence days, not automatically the first ten calendar days of a trial. Expense-related allowances, such as travel, are excluded from jury-service pay for this calculation.

The employer can require evidence that you took the necessary steps to obtain jury-service pay and of the amount paid or payable, including a nil amount. Supply attendance and payment records. Example: on an eligible day within the ten-day limit, $250 ordinary-hours base pay less $135.40 court remuneration leaves $114.60 employer make-up pay; the $22.80 travel allowance is separate.

Casual employees have community-service leave but no NES jury make-up-pay entitlement. Check any more beneficial law, agreement, award or employment arrangement, including public-sector paid leave. The Fair Work Ombudsman guide explains notice, evidence and make-up pay; do not assume a court allowance replaces every employee’s wage entitlement.

Tell your employer as soon as possible and keep the summons and absence details. ACT section 44AA prohibits dismissal, injury or disadvantage because an employee is summoned for jury service. Preserve rosters, payslips and messages and seek help promptly if your employer disputes leave or pay.

Attendance, trial length and jury privacy

The court handbook says the summons sets your availability period and a trial can last days or weeks. Follow the judge’s estimate and directions; not being selected for one trial does not necessarily discharge you from the pool. Bring the summons and needed medication, plan travel and request support early.

Use current pool information or (02) 6207 1792 after 5 pm before a day you are due to attend. This is a recorded information line; you cannot leave messages. For illness, delay or questions, contact the Jury Management Unit instead.

An ordinary criminal jury has twelve members. A judge can start with thirteen to sixteen, with random reduction to twelve before retirement to consider the verdict. The Act also permits specified continuation with ten or eleven after a juror dies or is excused. Follow the court’s directions rather than assuming a changed jury is invalid.

For a Territory offence with twelve jurors, sections 37A–38 allow an eleven-of-twelve verdict only after the judge makes the required findings: a reasonable deliberation period of at least six hours considering the trial, and examination on oath supporting that unanimity is unlikely. Six hours is not an automatic countdown. Commonwealth offences tried on indictment require unanimity; see Ng v The Queen [2003] HCA 20, paragraphs 7–12.

Do not search for information about the trial, use AI to investigate it, contact witnesses or discuss deliberations outside permitted channels. Section 42BA prohibits improper trial-related inquiries by sworn criminal jurors before discharge, subject to proper-function and court-authorisation rules; its maximum is two years imprisonment. Put questions or concerns to the judge through court staff.

Section 42C restricts publication of deliberations and juror identities, with defined exceptions. After proceedings finish, it permits identifying yourself as a juror and identifying another juror with that person’s consent; this does not generally authorise publication of deliberations. Limited legal-advice exceptions concern specified authorised disclosures. Do not upload trial evidence or deliberations to an AI service.

Missed jury duty or received a penalty notice?

Contact the Jury Management Unit or issuing court promptly. Section 41 concerns failure to attend without a valid and sufficient reason and excludes cases where the person was subsequently excused or the summons withdrawn. A pending application is not itself approval. Keep the actual reason, supporting evidence and all communications. Under Legislation Act section 133, the current individual penalty unit is $160.

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Section 42B provides the stated pay/show-cause process and gives the recipient a right to refuse that procedure; unresolved matters can proceed to court. Read the actual notice and obtain advice about the choice and evidence. Do not ignore it or assume an excusal request, telephone call or legal booking stops a deadline.

What to gather before responding or seeking help

Keep a dated copy of your submission and the decision. Supply relevant personal information only through the official channel; get urgent help without waiting for a perfect bundle.

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Official help and free legal information

Use the court for routine jury administration. The services below offer official information or support; the help available depends on the issue and service scope.

Common questions about ACT jury duty

Related legal information