Western Australian Consolidated Acts Western Australian Consolidated Acts (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 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 the document, or
causes another person to retain the document, on a data storage device
throughout that period, where —
(a)
having regard to all the relevant circumstances at the time of recording the
document on the data storage device, the method of retaining the document
provided a reliable means of assuring the maintenance of the integrity of the
information contained in the document;
(b) at
the time of recording the document on the data storage device, it was
reasonable to expect that the information so recorded would be readily
accessible for reference throughout that period; and
(c) if
the regulations require that 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 the information, or causes another person to retain the information,
on a data storage device 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 for
reference throughout that period;
(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
provided a reliable means of assuring the maintenance of the integrity of the
information contained in the electronic communication;
(c)
throughout that period, the first person also retains, or causes the other
person to retain, on a data storage device, 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;
(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 for reference throughout that period;
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.