The occupational licensing Acts require the Minister of Consumer and Business Services to establish panels of court assessors to sit with the Magistrates Court or District Court in certain civil and disciplinary proceedings.

Court assessors will be appointed under the following legislative streams:

• Building Work Contractors Act 1995
• Second-hand Vehicle Dealers Act 1995
• Plumbers, Gas Fitters and Electricians Act 1995
• Land Agents Act 1994
• Land Valuers Act 1994
• Conveyancers Act 1994
• Security and Investigation Industry Act 1995

There are two types of court assessors:

* Industry court assessors – are qualified and experienced in their nominated occupation and trade. They must be registered as a licence holder under a particular occupation. They provide to the court their expertise, knowledge of industry jargons and best practices.

* Consumer court assessors – represent people who are likely to deal with occupational tradespeople. They provide to the Court a consumer’s point of view about a particular trade.

A court assessor must:

* be ethical
* be able to clearly express themselves
* be able to conduct themselves with decorum in a court environment
* declare if there are any conflicts of interest before assisting a judge in a matter.

The court assessor’s role

Court assessors sit with the Court and provide relevant and impartial evidence about their trade expertise – building, conveyancing, real estate, land valuing, electrical, plumbing, gas fitter and security and investigation.

Assessors can help a judge in court proceedings by providing knowledge and technical evidence about the workings and practices of a particular trade.

Court assessors should never mislead the Court or become an advocate for their particular trade.

Court assessors may disagree with or fail to reach the same conclusion as the judge. The Court will reach its own conclusion, after considering the opinions and evidence of the court assessor.

Expression of interest

Interested individuals who wish to be nominated and considered for either the role of an industry or a consumer Court Assessor in the future can submit their expression of interest to Mr Paul Liew on CBS Regulatory Services at paul.liew@sa.gov.au or at 08 8226 8593.

Interested applicants for court assessors are also required to submit to CBS Regulatory Services the following additional documents when requested:

• up-to-date curriculum vitae/resume
• Submit a recent National Police Check.

Written evidence from nominee to nominated occupational/ trade association regarding their intention to apply to be a South Australian court assessor (industry court assessor applicants only)

Submit your expression of interest to be a court assessor.

Police screening

You will need to provide a national police check or DCSI screening certificate as part of your application. If you have not completed this check in the last 12 months or do not have it available to upload, you must complete a national police check before starting your application.

Nominators and supporters

CBS may consult with the trade or occupational representative associations before appointing the successful nominee for the role as a court assessor.

Consumer court assessors are not required to obtain any support for any organisation.

As industry court assessors seek to represent their various trades to the South Australia Judiciary, it is crucial that the applicant has the confidence of its trade or occupational representative body. As such it is strongly encouraged for industry court assessor applicants to inform their nominated occupation or trade representative organisations of their interest in writing.