Commonwealth Consolidated Acts

ELECTRONIC TRANSACTIONS ACT 1999 - SECT 12

Recording of information

  (1)   If, under a law of the Commonwealth, a person is required to record information in writing, that requirement is taken to have been met if the person records the information in electronic form, where:

  (a)   in all cases--at the time of the recording of the information, it was reasonable to expect that the information would be readily accessible so as to be useable for subsequent reference; and

  (b)   if the regulations require that the information be recorded, in electronic form, on a particular kind of data storage device--that requirement has been met.

Retention of written document

  (2)   If, under a law of the Commonwealth, a person is required to retain, for a particular period, 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 retains an electronic form of the document throughout that period, where:

  (a)   in all cases--having regard to all the relevant circumstances at the time of the generation of the electronic form of the document, 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

  (b)   in all cases--at the time of the generation of the electronic form of the document, 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

  (c)   if the regulations require that the electronic form of the document be retained on a particular kind of data storage device--that requirement has been met.

  (3)   For the purposes of subsection   ( 2), the integrity of information contained in a document is maintained if, and only if, the information has remained complete and unaltered, apart from:

  (a)   the addition of any endorsement; or

  (b)   any immaterial change;

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

Retention of electronic communications

  (4)   If, under a law of the Commonwealth, a person (the first person ) is required to retain, for a particular period, information that was the subject of an electronic communication, that requirement is taken to be met if the first person retains, or causes another person to retain, in electronic form, the information throughout that period, where:

  (a)   in all cases--at the time of commencement of the retention of the information, it was reasonable to expect that the information would be readily accessible so as to be useable for subsequent reference; and

  (b)   in all cases--having regard to all the relevant circumstances at the time of commencement of the retention of the information, the method of retaining the information in electronic form provided a reliable means of assuring the maintenance of the integrity of the information contained in the electronic communication; and

  (c)   in all cases--throughout that period, the first person also retains, or causes the other person to retain, in electronic form, such additional information obtained by the first person as is sufficient to enable the identification of the following:

  (i)   the origin of the electronic communication;

  (ii)   the destination of the electronic communication;

  (iii)   the time when the electronic communication was sent;

  (iv)   the time when the electronic communication was received; and

  (d)   in all cases--at the time of commencement of the retention of the additional information covered by paragraph   ( c), it was reasonable to expect that the additional information would be readily accessible so as to be useable for subsequent reference; and

  (e)   if the regulations require that the information be retained, in electronic form, on a particular kind of data storage device--that requirement is met throughout that period.

  (5)   For the purposes of subsection   ( 4), the integrity of information that was the subject of an electronic communication is maintained if, and only if, the information has remained complete and unaltered, apart from:

  (a)   the addition of any endorsement; or

  (b)   any immaterial change;

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

Copyright

  (6)   The generation of an electronic form of a document for the purposes of:

  (a)   this section; or

  (b)   a law of a State or Territory that corresponds to this section;

does not constitute an infringement of the copyright in a work or other subject matter embodied in the document.