Family Law Act 1975

The court or a Judge may, for the purposes of any proceedings, direct or allow testimony to be given by video link, audio link or other appropriate means.

See also section 102F.

The testimony must be given on oath or affirmation unless:

the person giving the testimony is in a foreign country; and

either:

the law in force in that country does not permit the person to give testimony on oath or affirmation for the purposes of the proceedings; or

the law in force in that country would make it inconvenient for the person to give testimony on oath or affirmation for the purposes of the proceedings; and

the court or a Judge is satisfied that it is appropriate for the testimony to be given otherwise than on oath or affirmation.

If the testimony is given otherwise than on oath or affirmation, the court or a Judge must give the testimony such weight as the court or the Judge thinks fit in the circumstances.

The power conferred on the court or a Judge by subsection (1) may be exercised:

on the application of a party to the proceedings concerned; or

on the court’s own initiative or on the Judge’s own initiative, as the case may be.

This section applies whether the person giving testimony is in or outside Australia, but does not allow testimony to be given by a person who is in New Zealand.

See Part 6 of the Trans‑Tasman Proceedings Act 2010.