Electronic Transactions Act 2001

If, under a territory law, a person is required to produce a document that is in the form of paper, an article or other material, that requirement is taken to have been met if—

the person produces, by means of an electronic communication, an electronic form of the document; and

having regard to all the relevant circumstances at the time the communication was sent, the method of generating the electronic form of the document provided a reliable means of assuring the maintenance of the integrity of the information contained in the document; and

at the time the communication was sent, it was reasonable to expect that the information contained in the electronic form of the document would be readily accessible so as to be useable for subsequent reference; and

the person to whom the document is required to be produced consents to the production, by means of an electronic communication, of an electronic form of the document.

If, under a territory law, a person is permitted to produce a document that is in the form of paper, an article or other material, then, instead of producing the document in that form, the person may produce, by means of an electronic communication, an electronic form of the document if—

having regard to all the relevant circumstances at the time the communication was sent, the method of generating the electronic form of the document provided a reliable means of assuring the maintenance of the integrity of the information contained in the document; and

at the time the communication was sent, it was reasonable to expect that the information contained in the electronic form of the document would be readily accessible so as to be useable for subsequent reference; and

the person to whom the document is permitted to be produced consents to the production, by means of an electronic communication, of an electronic form of the document.

For this section, the integrity of information contained in a document is maintained if, and only if, the information has remained complete and unaltered, apart from—

the addition of any endorsement; or

any immaterial change;

This section does not affect the operation of any other territory law that provides for or in relation to requiring or permitting electronic forms of documents to be produced, in accordance with particular information technology requirements—

on a particular kind of data storage device; or

by means of a particular kind of electronic communication.