Social Welfare Consolidation Act 2005 section 274

Evidence

Section 274 sets out the rules for creating, copying, storing, and using official social welfare records as evidence in legal proceedings.

• Defines key terms including "original record," "copy record," "provable record," and "specified agency" for the purposes of managing social welfare documentation.
• Allows the Minister or a specified agency to copy or digitally store records that are deteriorating, difficult to store, or technologically obsolete, and to destroy the originals subject to National Archives Act 1986 authorisation.
• Provides that provable records (originals or certified copies) are admissible as prima facie evidence in legal proceedings, provided the court is satisfied the system used to create or compile them is reliable.
• Establishes that a certificate confirming no record of an event was found after a thorough search can serve as prima facie evidence that the event did not occur, subject to the court being satisfied about the reliability of the record-keeping system.