New South Wales Consolidated Acts

CRIMINAL PROCEDURE ACT 1986 - SECT 295

295 Interpretation

(1) Definitions In this Division--

"criminal proceedings" means--

(a) proceedings relating to the trial or sentencing of a person for an offence (whether or not a sexual assault offence) including pre-trial and interlocutory proceedings but not preliminary criminal proceedings, or

(b) proceedings relating to an order under the Crimes (Domestic and Personal Violence) Act 2007 .

"harm" includes actual physical bodily harm, financial loss, stress or shock, damage to reputation or emotional or psychological harm (such as shame, humiliation and fear).

"preliminary criminal proceedings" means any of the following--

(a) committal proceedings,

(b) proceedings relating to bail (including proceedings during the trial or sentencing of a person),

whether or not in relation to a sexual assault offence.

"principal protected confider" means the victim or alleged victim of a sexual assault offence by, to or about whom a protected confidence is made.

"protected confidence" --see section 296.

"protected confider" , in relation to a protected confidence, means--

(a) the principal protected confider, or

(b) any other person who made the protected confidence.

"sexual assault offence" means--

(a) a prescribed sexual offence, or

(a1) acts that would constitute a prescribed sexual offence if those acts--

(i) had occurred in this State, or

(ii) had occurred at some later date, or

(iii) had both occurred in this State and occurred at some later date, or

(b) any other offence prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of this definition.

(2) Document recording a protected confidence In this Division, a reference to a document recording a protected confidence--

(a) is a reference to any part of the document that records a protected confidence or any report, observation, opinion, advice, recommendation or other matter that relates to the protected confidence made by a protected confider, and

(b) includes a reference to any copy, reproduction or duplicate of that part of the document.

(3) Electronic documents For the purposes of this Division, if a document recording a protected confidence is stored electronically and a written document recording the protected confidence could be created by use of equipment that is usually available for retrieving or collating such stored information, the document stored electronically is to be dealt with as if it were a written document so created.