Electronic Signatures in Australia

How the Electronic Transactions Act 1999 and state-level acts make e-signatures binding across Australia.

The Electronic Transactions Act 1999 (ETA)

The federal ETA and equivalent state acts (NSW ETA 2000, VIC ETA 2000, QLD ETA 2001, etc.) establish that an electronic signature satisfies a signature requirement if (a) the method identifies the signer and indicates their intention, (b) the method is reliable, and (c) the recipient consents.

Witnessed and remote-witnessed deeds

Recent reforms in NSW, Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia explicitly permit deeds to be witnessed remotely via video. DocFila's optional witnessed-signing flow records the audio-visual feed and stores it alongside the audit trail.

Carve-outs and Corporations Act signing

The Corporations Amendment (Meetings and Documents) Act 2022 made permanent the COVID-era rule that section 127 documents (company contracts) can be signed electronically by directors and officers. This unblocked the most common Australian B2B signing scenarios.

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