Project No. 90

In 1996, the Standing Committee on Uniform Legislation and Intergovernmental Agreements tabled its Evidence Law report before the Legislative Assembly. The report addressed the question whether Western Australia should support national uniform evidence legislation by the adoption of legislation similar to that already existing in the federal sphere. The Standing Committee agreed, in principle, that Western Australia should enact new legislation convergent with the Commonwealth Evidence Act 1995 but incorporate current Western Australian provisions worthy of retention. In respect of the creation of privileges for protection of confidential communications the Standing Committee indicated that it rejected the grant of any form of blanket privilege attaching to specific relationships. Instead, the Committee expressed its preference for enactment of a general judicial discretion in matters of confidential communications.