Electronic Communications Act 2000

If, under a law of this jurisdiction, 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, where—

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 law of this jurisdiction, 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, where—

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 the purposes of subsections (1)(c) and (2)(c), a person to whom prescribed legal proceedings relate will be taken to have consented to the production of a document required or permitted to be produced in relation to those proceedings by means of an electronic communication.

Subsection (2a) only applies if, before producing a document by means of an electronic communication, it has been ascertained that the person, or a legal practitioner representing that person, will be readily able to access or download, and (if required) print, the document.

For the purposes of 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, which arises in the normal course of communication, storage or display.

For the purposes of subsections (1)(c) and (2)(c), a person to whom a government document is required to be produced for inspection will be taken to have consented to the document being produced by means of an electronic communication.

This section does not affect the operation of usage rules applicable under Part 3 or of any other law of this jurisdiction that makes provision 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, (and the usage rules or other law will be taken to apply to the exclusion of this section).