Liz Spicer and Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush at the 2026 RVAHJ Conference.
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If you’ve ever needed a document witnessed or certified, chances are you’ve had the help of a justice of the peace.
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The authorised volunteers give up thousands of hours to people all over the state every single week, but JPs and the volunteers’ peak advocacy body warn they’re in desperate need of support.
Chaplain Liz Spicer has been a justice of the peace for over 20 years, seeing the challenges facing volunteers as she has serviced communities from Kyabram to Cohuna.
“I was nominated by former MP Sharman Stone,” Ms Spicer said.
“I had strong values of civil service instilled in me growing up, and this is a good way to give a little back to the community.
“It’s an honourable position, time-consuming because of the lack of numbers, but very rewarding.”
It’s a sentiment echoed by Rodney Lavin, the president of the Royal Victorian Association of Honorary Justices, the state’s peak JP advocacy body.
Rodney Lavin speaks at the 2026 RVAHJ Conference.
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“You only have to talk to any JP in the state to see just how much of a problem the shortfall of numbers is,” he said.
“In Victoria we’ve got about 50 JPs for every 100,000 people, in Queensland, the number is 1432.
“We need to see a change to the Victorian recruitment process because we can fix this problem.”
Mr Lavin explained Queensland was the gold standard, with volunteers covering the cost of their own training, which was done through accredited providers such as TAFE institutes.
Mr Lavin said his organisation was ready to provide both training and mentorship to JPs, leaving the government to just complete background checks.
He called on whichever party formed government in November to commit to the RVAHJ’s recommendation of recruiting 5000 new JPs across the parliamentary term.
The RVAHJ recently led a protest on the steps of Victorian parliament, calling on the government to recruit more JPs.
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Ms Spicer said fresh faces were essential, especially in regional areas where she said JPs were an ageing population and could be few and far between.
“People just don’t want to volunteer any more,” she said.
“Why would they when it’s so difficult to get authorised?
“You want good people to volunteer, but at the end of the day, we need people.”
In Victoria, some of the pressure is eased by professionals such as doctors, nurses and lawyers being able to complete some of the responsibilities of JPs, such as signing statutory decelerations, but both Ms Spicer and Mr Lavin said it was often more trouble than it was worth.
“If you wake up sick and your job makes you sign a stat dec to take sick leave, you’re not going to ring up your lawyer and ask them,” Mr Lavin said.
“Certain professionals might technically be able to help out, but they’ve got jobs to do, and they can’t do things like take affidavits, I just don’t understand why we’re not recruiting more volunteers.”
Ms Spicer agreed.
“Let us do the signing, let the police and the others do their job,” she said.
“We need more people.”
A spokesperson from the Victorian Government said the recruitment of JPs was ongoing in areas where additional numbers were needed.
“Justices of the peace play an important role in our justice system, providing valuable and accessible services to the community at all hours,” the spokesperson said.
“There is no freeze on the recruitment of JPs. Recruitment continues in local government areas where there is an identified need for additional services.
“More than 800 JPs have been appointed across Victoria over the past three years through Labor’s investments, making sure that Victorians can continue to access free witnessing and certification services.”
The government did not say if it would commit to the RVAHJ’s request to recruit 5000 additional JPs over the next parliamentary term.
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