Jury duty starts to hurt...

Jury duty is an integral part of the Australian Criminal Justice system...


unfortunately it needs to change to change to suit 2007's marketplace...

When i sit in the Jury Panel room i see a wonderful representation of the Darwin general populace. There are men and women rom cultural backgrounds as diverse as Darwin and varying in teh full spectrum of ages. As a true representation of the Darwin and indeed greater Australian workplace there are among these; Freelancers, Sole traders, small business people and casual workers. I would estimate that at least 10 % of this sample of maybe 60 people fit into these categories...

The Jury Act prevents an employer from making the attendance of Jury service difficult for an employee, indeed there are fines for doing so. Too, juries are paid an honorarium of $60/day when selected. What is not covered however, is people like me who work for various organisations on a short term basis; being booked from week to week as early as a month in advance. Jury service for me equals no earnings for six weeks...

Interesting quandary. I am tryign to find day/day jobs in town schools; but having not been in that pool for over three years; it's difficult to get a guernsey. Anyway I am enjoying seeing the process of the Criminal Justice System up close. And hopefully i will be able to be excused in the final week so i can earn some dosh...