Threats to Australian judges soar at alarming speeds

The data, released on the inaugural United Nations International Day for Judicial Wellbeing (25 July), has also indicated that threats are expected to soar another 70 per cent by the end of 2025.

AJOA president Justice Steven Moore has called on the attorneys-general of the Commonwealth, states, and territories to implement measures that would address the risks to judicial officers’ safety.

“The increasing prevalence of threats to the safety and security of Australian judicial officers is alarming and unacceptable.

“It demands urgent action to ensure judicial officers and court staff may go about their work without unnecessary risks to their psychological and physical health and safety, and to ensure that they may properly discharge their oaths of office,” Justice Moore said.

According to a survey completed by sitting or retired NSW judicial officers in July 2022, sixty-one per cent experienced some form of threat, 41 per cent received a threat of harm, and a quarter said they received a death threat. This was received both in court and on social media.

Recent unpublished data from Court Services Victoria revealed that the number of judicial officers who sought support to manage a threat more than doubled, with most coming from the Magistrates Court.

VIEW ALL

Justice Moore said the judiciary should not be immune from the legitimate scrutiny of their decision making, but personal threats should never be tolerated as “part of the job”.

“Judicial officers perform an essential social role. It means putting personal opinions aside and applying laws enacted by parliament and legal precedents. Threats of personal harm for performing this role are unwarranted and should alarm the community,” he added.

The AJOA pointed to data from the US, where judges have been murdered as recently as 2023. Three judges or members of their family were killed between 1979 and 1989, and 2005 to 2020.

Data from Reuters identified that US judges received threats by email, phone, in person, and on social media.

“Although the experience in the US shouldn’t be assumed to automatically flow to Australia, there is clearly an erosion of respect for, and understanding of, the role of judicial officers, that left unabated has the potential to undermine our system of justice,” Justice Moore said.

The International Day for Judicial Wellbeing coincides with the anniversary of the Nauru Declaration of Judicial Wellbeing, which was endorsed in 2024 by the chief justices and senior judicial figures in Australia, Canada, England, Jamaica, and numerous Pacific island nations.