Water Industry Act 2012

If an arbitrator has reason to believe that a person is in a position to give information or to produce documents, that may be relevant to the dispute, the arbitrator may, by written notice—

require the person within a period stated in the notice—

to give the arbitrator a written statement of specified information; or

to produce to the arbitrator specified documents or copies of specified documents; or

require the person to appear before the arbitrator at a specified time and place to give evidence.

A written statement must, if the arbitrator so requires, be verified by statutory declaration of the person providing the information or, if the person is a body corporate, an appropriate officer of the body corporate.

If documents are produced to an arbitrator, the arbitrator may—

take possession of, make copies of, and take extracts from, the documents; and

keep the documents for as long as is necessary for the purposes of the arbitration.

A person must—

comply with a requirement of the arbitrator under subsection (1) or (2); and

if the person is required to appear as a witness before the arbitrator—comply with further requirements to make an oath or affirmation, or to answer questions. Maximum penalty: Maximum penalty: $20 000.

However, a person need not give information or produce a document if—

the information or the contents of the document are the subject of legal professional privilege, or would tend to incriminate the person of an offence; and

the person objects to giving the information or producing the document by giving written notice of the ground of the objection to the arbitrator or, if the person is appearing as a witness before the arbitrator, by an oral statement of the ground of objection.