Statutory Review of the Statutory Declarations Act 1959
Are any changes needed to improve the Commonwealth statutory declarations framework to allow for more streamlined interactions with states and territories?
Across the Commonwealth, states and territories, statutory declarations frameworks differ in areas such as the use of technology, approved witnesses and form requirements. These differences can create complexity for individuals and businesses when using statutory declarations across multiple jurisdictions.
In previous engagement with the department, some stakeholders have identified ‘mutual recognition’ as one option that could support more consistent processes across jurisdictions. Under a mutual recognition model, a statutory declaration validly executed in one jurisdiction could be accepted in another. There may be potential to expand the existing limited cross-jurisdictional recognition to address some of the issues identified by stakeholders in earlier consultation. For example, we seek views on whether the Commonwealth should recognise statutory declarations that are validly executed under state or territory legislation.
Page 13 of the discussion paper provides more information on the mutual recognition model. We would welcome stakeholder views on whether this would be a helpful step to improve efficiency and make it easier for people to engage with the Commonwealth statutory declaration framework.
Please provide your views by answering the below questions. You do not need to answer them all – you may respond only to those that are relevant to you or your organisation.