The youngest JP in the cohort is 71 years old, while the oldest is 90
A special ceremony at Sydney’s Parliament House honoured the volunteer efforts of over 150 justices of the peace (JPs) from across NSW, celebrating half a century of their dedicated service to the community.
The JPs honoured included Uncle William (Bill) Phillips, an 84-year-old Wongaibon elder who is the longest-serving Aboriginal JP in the state. The youngest JP in the cohort is 71 years old, while the oldest is 90.
“JPs provide an essential service to the community and legal profession and are there for key moments in people’s lives,” said Michael Daley, state attorney general, in a media release from NSW’s Department of Communities and Justice (DCJ).
Daley attended the ceremony alongside over 60 JPs and more than 30 local MPs. He noted that there are over 64,000 volunteers across NSW. JPs have been active in NSW since its earliest days as a colony and have continued to support the state’s justice system for over two centuries, the DCJ said.
The JPs recognised at the event have voluntarily witnessed the making of statutory declarations or affidavits and have certified copies of original documents since 1974. Together, the JPs in this batch contributed over 7,500 years of service since taking their oath, the DCJ said in a LinkedIn post.
Since last year, the NSW government has appointed over 1,000 Aboriginal JPs after the DCJ’s launch of a recruitment initiative to increase representation, the department said.
“We have moved to increase protections for JPs, introducing legislation to shield them from liability for carrying out their role in good faith,” Daley said.
This year, the state government updated the JP public register by adding a search function to allow members of Aboriginal communities to look for an Aboriginal JP and access JP services. Per the DCJ’s LinkedIn post, NSW is the only jurisdiction in the country that provides this function.
The DCJ noted on its website that JPs should be honest and impartial when serving their duties to witness and certify critical documents. JPs should not accept fees or gifts for their services, write or help write a statutory declaration or affidavit, or give legal advice.
