World · East Asia & Pacific · 1 hr ago
Report finds Indigenous people rarely serve on South Australian juries
Indigenous people rarely serve on juries in South Australia, despite being over-represented in the criminal justice system.
The South Australian Law Reform Institute identified barriers including low electoral enrolment, criminal-history exclusions and concerns about cultural safety.
Jury summonses are drawn only from the electoral roll, which may miss Indigenous people who are not enrolled to vote.
The report suggests using South Australia's First Nations Voice enrolment data as an additional source for selecting potential jurors.
It also says jury disqualification rules are too broad and recommends reviewing summonses and extending criminal court circuits to more areas with significant Indigenous populations.
The institute made 34 recommendations for the state Attorney-General to consider, with the aim of improving Indigenous participation and representation in jury trials.
A report found Indigenous people “very rarely” serve on juries in South Australia, despite being over-represented in the criminal justice system.
The South Australian Law Reform Institute identified electoral enrolment, criminal history disqualifications and cultural safety as key barriers.
The report made 34 recommendations for the state Attorney-General to consider.
It said potential Indigenous jurors were also “very rare” in Port Augusta, where about a quarter of the community is Indigenous.
Recommendations include considering First Nations Voice enrolment data as an additional source for jury selection.
- Who
- The South Australian Law Reform Institute led the research. Indigenous people in South Australia are the group affected.
- What
- A report found Indigenous people very rarely serve on juries and made 34 recommendations to improve participation.
- When
- The report was published on November 6, 2026.
- Where
- South Australia, including Port Augusta.
- Why
- The report identified under-enrolment on the electoral roll, criminal history disqualifications and cultural safety as key issues.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
South Australia's First Nations Voice election was held to elect an Indigenous advisory body to parliament.
The report was published by the Australian Institute of Judicial Administration Limited.
- Recommendations
- 34
- Local representation
- About a quarter of Port Augusta’s community is Indigenous.
- Jury selection
- South Australia currently uses the electoral roll to summon people for jury duty.
- Potential additional source
- Enrolment data from South Australia’s First Nations Voice to Parliament
- Report publisher
- Australian Institute of Judicial Administration Limited
What people are saying
Indigenous people in South Australia [and indeed nationally] are not being offered the same opportunity to serve on a jury, whether they in fact do so or not
Experienced criminal lawyers, experienced judicial officers, experienced members of the Aboriginal community say that they cannot recall moments where anybody is being called … that should give us concern
Many people, not just Aboriginal people, when you receive a jury summons, ask yourself, am I in trouble?
The first thing is that they're not sure of the system, they look at all the faces and there's nothing there that they would make them feel at ease