Month: September 2025

Last week the Evidence Bill 2025 (WA) passed both houses of parliament. It is now awaiting Assent.

Following the tabling of the Standing Committee on Uniform Legislation and Statutes Review’s report on 12 August 2025, the Bill was under consideration by the Legislative Council in Committee of the Whole. Ten amendments were adopted by the Legislative Council in this process. The Bill was then read for a third time in that house on 18 September 2025, and on that same day the Legislative Assembly agreed to the amendments made by the Legislative Council.

The final version of the Bill is, therefore, a culmination of the Evidence Bill 2025 (WA) as it passed the originating house, and the amendments noted in Supplementary Notice Paper 9 (Issue 2), all of which were agreed to by both houses of Parliament.

For those interested (and quoting the currently uncorrected draft Hansard), the Leader of the Opposition in the Legislative Council discussed the reason why the now agreed Bill is split across these two documents: ‘… after we pass amendments in the Committee of the Whole House process, and perhaps after this third reading, and we then send the bill back to the other place, we do not actually send a bar-3 bill back to the other place for its concurrence. We simply say to the members of other place that we have agreed to the bill and we have these other ancillary amendments that we would like them to agree to. I think it would be useful—not that I am expecting this to change—when members are being asked to agree to the third reading of a bill, as we are now being asked to do, that there is some document that accumulates everything it is that we are being asked to agree to. In terms of the documents that I have before me, I have this massive Evidence Bill 2025, a bar-2 bill that was introduced by the hardworking parliamentary secretary some time ago. I also have in my possession the supplementary notice paper (SNP)—in particular, SNP 9, issue 2. In a sense, it is the combination of these two things that then become the law that we are being asked to agree to. But it is a not entirely satisfactory process because, of course, just because I have an SNP 9, issue 2, does not necessarily mean that the house has agreed to all the items that are on the SNP. As it so happens in this instance—this is why I think it is an instructive example—that did actually happen.’

This process of legislative change in WA has been a long one – the Uniform Evidence Law was enacted in the Commonwealth jurisdiction and in New South Wales 30 years ago, and it has been 29 years since a WA Parliamentary Committee recommended that ‘Western Australia enact a new Evidence Act which would include (1) the Commonwealth Model Evidence Act…; and (2) incorporating those sections of the current Western Australian Act thought to be worthy of retention…’. It’s quite remarkable that this is (more or less) exactly what the Western Australian parliament chose to do (albeit nearly 30 years later)! Having the Bill passed through both houses (and now awaiting Assent) is a significant development, though it will also require significant learning and upskilling amongst WA’s legal profession.

I’m proud of the part I was able to play in shaping the new law when I was engaged by the Department of Justice to undertake an academic review of the proposed legislation in 2024. I will continue to post updates on this website, and have also recently signed a publishing agreement with Thomson Reuters to author a new book (aimed at both practitioners and students) on Evidence Law in Western Australia, reflecting the incoming evidence framework (I will provide updates here in due course).

You can access all of the documents relating to the Evidence Bill 2025 (WA), and continue to track its progress, on the WA Parliament website.