South Australian Consolidated Acts South Australian Consolidated Acts11—Retention of information and documents
(1) If, under a
law of this jurisdiction, 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) 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 on a particular kind
of data storage device—that requirement has been met.
(2) If, under a
law of this jurisdiction, 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, or causes
another person to retain, an electronic form of the document throughout that
period, where—
(a)
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) 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 throughout that period.
(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.
(4) If, under a
law of this jurisdiction, 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 have been met if the
first person retains, or causes another person to retain, in electronic form,
the information throughout that period, where—
(a) 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)
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)
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) 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 on a particular kind
of data storage device—that requirement has been 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.
Note—
Section 12 sets out exemptions from this section.