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- 21 June 2000
Jury Support Program
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The Hon. R. D. DYER: Will the Attorney General, and Minister for Industrial Relations inform the House of progress made in providing better support for people who serve on juries in New South Wales?
The Hon. J. W. SHAW: The Hon. R. D. Dyer's question is evidence of his ongoing concern with the administration of justice in New South Wales. Indeed, the honourable member's question, focusing as it does on the jury support program, reflects on a matter which is critical to the justice system in this jurisdiction. Honourable members would be aware that, in line with the Government's election commitments, a juror support program is being implemented through Sheriff's Office. The objective of that $250,000 program is to provide better information and support to all those who are called for jury service in New South Wales.
This is a first for this State. For far too long, ordinary members of the public were called for jury service with little or no idea of what may be expected of them. After serving on, in many cases, very difficult and arduous criminal trials, they were simply pushed out of the door with little more than the thanks of the court. The new program aims to change all of that. It is comprised of three separate initiatives, each designed to complement the others. We should not underestimate the impact of jury service on the community. Last year almost 134,000 people were summoned for jury service, and more than 43,000 of those actually attended court. Some 14,000 people were selected to sit on a jury.
A specialist juror support co-ordinator has been recruited to the New South Wales Sheriff's Office. That officer commenced duty at the beginning of the year, and she is responsible for establishing and monitoring the program. A new juror induction video has been produced for the education and awareness of all potential jurors in New South Wales. I launched that new video, entitled Our Jury—Our Values, on 28 January this year. I am informed that the video is now being shown as a standard introduction to jury service right across the State and has been very well received. The video contains information on the most commonly asked questions concerning jury service.
The final phase of the program is to let a tender for the statewide provision of professional debriefing and counselling services for any juror who is adversely affected by his or her service as a juror. Advertisements calling for tenders for the service appeared in the major metropolitan press on 15 and 20 March this year. In addition, specific notifications of the request for tenders were targeted to major industry sectors. The request for tenders closed on 12 April this year and the tenders have been fully evaluated by an independent tender evaluation committee. I am pleased to report that there was strong interest in the call for tenders, with 12 organisations tendering for all or part of the program across the State.
I am in a position to announce that contracts have been signed with three successful tenderers. Thirty-two trial court locations will be serviced by International Psychological Services Employee Assistance Pty Ltd. That organisation has a very extensive network of counselling and trauma specialists across the State. It has been operating for 23 years and has a client list of 600 corporate and public sector organisations. Four locations will be covered by McNamara Mulcahy and Associates Pty Ltd. That organisation has 12 years experience in the field and already provides services to the public sector, including the Department of Education and Training. The final two locations will be covered by Raymond Dorling and Associates, which is also a well-qualified and experienced firm of counsellors.
As a result of this program, the Government has in place a network of professionally qualified counsellors who can respond quickly to any identified need anywhere in the State. To preserve the confidentiality of the jury's deliberations, this service will be available only when a juror has been discharged. As part of this very important stage of the program, the Sheriff's Office is also developing a training and awareness package for its officers. That training will enable officers to recognise the often subtle signs of emotional and psychological distress and to deal with distressed jurors on the spot primarily by referral to the new service, the juror's own physician or other locally based community support networks.
The Government is committed to establishing this professional support service for jurors in New South Wales and fully recognises the valuable contribution they make as the community's direct representatives in the administration of justice—particularly, of course, in the administration of criminal justice. The program is a tangible sign of that recognition and is one which the Government believes gives something back to the community in an appropriate way.
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