Evidence Act 1939

A court must not give leave to adduce or produce evidence of a confidential communication unless satisfied:

that the evidence will, either by itself or together with other evidence that has been or will be adduced or produced, have substantial probative value in respect of a fact in issue; and

that other evidence of a similar or greater probative value in respect of the matters to which the confidential communication relates is not available; and

that the public interest in preserving the confidentiality of confidential communications and protecting the victim from harm is substantially outweighed by the public interest in admitting into evidence information, or the contents of a document or record, that is of substantial probative value.

Without limiting the matters the court may take into account for the purposes of subsection (1)(c), the court must take into account the likelihood, nature and extent of the harm that could be caused to the victim if the evidence is adduced or produced.

In giving leave to adduce or produce evidence of a confidential communication, the court may:

allow evidence of part only of the confidential communication to be adduced or produced; or

specify the manner in which the evidence is to be adduced or produced.

The court must state its reasons for giving or refusing to give leave to adduce or produce evidence of a confidential communication.