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While countries like the US have been allowing deaf and blind jurors for more than three decades, Australia has been slower to catch on.

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.

Law reform needed to allow deaf and blind people on juries We’re sorry, this service is currently unavailable. Please try again later. Dismiss Normal text size Advertisement When Brent Phillips was called for jury duty in 2014 after studying criminology at university, he was keen to serve. But Mr Phillips, who is deaf, had an extra hurdle in the selection process. Although people who are deaf, hard of hearing, blind or have low vision are not expressly prohibited from serving on juries in Victoria, Auslan interpreters aren’t allowed into the jury room and the Juries Act excludes people wh...