Latest News

Electronic evidence at NCAT hearings

17 October 2017

Electronic evidence can be presented at a NSW Civil and Administrative Court (NCAT) hearing. However, a Tribunal will not accept service of documents by electronic formats.

This means that agents preparing for a Tribunal case must provide, when necessary, a printed copy of photographs which must be single sided, with one image per page in colour. Often this can amount to 1,000s of pages when copies are given to the tenants, agent and Tribunal Member.

A REINSW Member said: “We recently had a scenario where we had to print off 397 single sided pages to four parties, which is extremely hard to bind and costly.

“It would be so much easier to send a USB drive, DVD, or link to a site, and also more cost and environmentally friendly.”

What do the Guidelines say?

Please find below a short outline of what the guidelines say. For more information, please read them in full here.

Can documents be sent to the Tribunal by email, USB or CDs?

The Tribunal will not accept service of documents by email, USB or CDs that contain printed material or photographs. Where a party is required to give documents to the Tribunal, they must be provided in hard copy only. 

Documents may be provided to the other party in electronic format, but only if the Tribunal and the other party agree.

Can evidence be presented on electronic devices?

If a party wishes to present a sound recording, video, photographs or other material by an electronic device at the first hearing they must bring their own equipment.

Most Tribunal hearing rooms and venues are equipped with power points, but not WIFI. It is also the party’s responsibility to find out if the venue can accommodate electronic devices.

Can evidence be presented on a CD or DVD?

In certain circumstances the Tribunal may permit a party to present evidence using a CD or DVD. This service is only available in NCAT Consumer and Commercial Division Registry hearing venues.

Unless the proceedings are continuing in the absence of the other party, the Tribunal may not accept the evidence if the other party has not viewed, or is unable to view the material.

For more information and detail on the guidelines, please click here.