Law Reform Commission Reports
The report of the Australian, New South Wales and Victorian Law Reform Commissions on the operation of the uniform Evidence Acts was tabled on 8 February 2006. The uniform Evidence Acts currently operate in the Commonwealth, New South Wales, Tasmania, the Australian Capital Territory and Norfolk Island.
The report advised that the uniform Evidence Acts were working well and that there were no major structural problems with the legislation or the underlying policy of the Acts. The report made 63 recommendations to ‘fine tune’ the Acts and promote harmonisation between jurisdictions.
In November 2005, in anticipation of the report, the Standing Committee of Attorneys General (SCAG) established a working group from jurisdictions that wished to participate to advise ministers on reforms arising from the report. The Parliamentary Counsels Committee has commenced drafting on a model Bill for consideration by SCAG Ministers.