Deaf Australians and those with disabilities push to end exclusion from juries

While many Australians go to great lengths to avoid serving on a jury, Brent Phillips has spent nearly a decade fighting for his right to take part in his civic duty.

The 43-year-old father of two is part of the Deaf community and Auslan is his first language.

In 2014, he was selected for jury duty in his home state of Victoria.

“I was quite excited to be honest, I have a legal background, and I have qualifications in criminology,” he said.

But once the courts found out Mr Phillips was deaf he was excluded from service, even though he wanted to participate.

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Topics:
Ableism and disability models, Case study, Justice

Author:
Kate Ashton

Source:
ABC

Date published:
Sat 8th Apr, 2023