Section 48 — Evidence Act 1995 (Cth)

(1) A party may adduce evidence of the contents of a document in question by tendering the document in question or by any one or more of the following methods:

(a) adducing evidence of an admission made by another party to the proceeding as to the contents of the document in question;

(b) tendering a document that:

(i) is or purports to be a copy of the document in question; and

(ii) has been produced, or purports to have been produced, by a device that reproduces the contents of documents;

(c) if the document in question is an article or thing by which words are recorded in such a way as to be capable of being reproduced as sound, or in which words are recorded in a code (including shorthand writing)—tendering a document that is or purports to be a transcript of the words;

(d) if the document in question is an article or thing on or in which information is stored in such a way that it cannot be used by the court unless a device is used to retrieve, produce or collate it—tendering a document that was or purports to have been produced by use of the device;

(e) tendering a document that:

(i) forms part of the records of or kept by a business (whether or not the business is still in existence); and

(ii) is or purports to be a copy of, or an extract from or a summary of, the document in question, or is or purports to be a copy of such an extract or summary;

(f) if the document in question is a public document—tendering a document that is or purports to be a copy of the document in question and that is or purports to have been printed:

(i) by the Government Printer or by the government or official printer of a State or Territory; or

(ii) by authority of the government or administration of the Commonwealth, a State, a Territory or a foreign country; or

(iii) by authority of an Australian Parliament, a House of an Australian Parliament, a committee of such a House or a committee of an Australian Parliament.

(2) Subsection (1) applies to a document in question whether the document in question is available to the party or not.

(3) If the party adduces evidence of the contents of a document under paragraph (1)(a), the evidence may only be used:

(a) in respect of the party’s case against the other party who made the admission concerned; or

(b) in respect of the other party’s case against the party who adduced the evidence in that way.

(4) A party may adduce evidence of the contents of a document in question that is not available to the party, or the existence and contents of which are not in issue in the proceeding, by:

(a) tendering a document that is a copy of, or an extract from or summary of, the document in question; or

(b) adducing from a witness evidence of the contents of the document in question.

Note 1: Clause 5 of Part 2 of the Dictionary is about the availability of documents.

Note 2: Section 182 gives this section a wider application in relation to Commonwealth records and certain Commonwealth documents.

Related sections

• s 45 — Production of documents
• s 46 — Leave to recall witnesses
• s 47 — Definitions
• s 49 — Documents in foreign countries
• s 50 — Proof of voluminous or complex documents
• s 51 — Original document rule abolished

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