Statutory Review of the Statutory Declarations Act 1959
Submission Date: 2 March 2026
The Law Council of Australia provided a submission to contribute to the review of the Statutory Declarations Act 1959 (Cth) (the Act) and the Statutory Declarations Regulations 2023 (Cth) (the Regulations) as part of the statutory review required under section 16 of the Act, inserted by the Statutory Declarations Amendment Act 2023 (Cth) (the Amendment Act).
The terms of reference for the review cover whether the operation of the Act and Regulations is effective, and whether any amendments are necessary or desirable to improve their operation. The Law Council understands, in considering these matters, that the review will examine the effectiveness of current safeguards and the extent to which the expansion of execution options has improved efficiency and convenience when making a Commonwealth statutory declaration.1
The Act was amended in 2023 to make permanent several measures first introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic, in addition to the new option of digital verification. The Amendment Act allowed an individual to make a statutory declaration in the following ways:
- traditional: paper-based interaction requiring wet-ink signatures and in-person witnessing;
- electronic: applying an electronic signature and witness via an audio-visual communication link; and
- digital verification: an end-to-end digital process through an approved online platform, where the MyGov platform authenticates the declarant’s Digital Identity through MyGovID.
The Law Council continues to support the continued modernisation of arrangements for the execution of legal instruments. It is essential that, while preserving a high level of security, it should be relatively easy for individuals to make, witness, verify and rely upon statutory declarations.
The Law Council therefore continues to support the principles underpinning the reforms of improving integrity, accessibility and consistency in the statutory declaration process and note that, thus far, the amendments have been largely positive. In particular, the amendments have minimised regulatory burden and costs by providing alternative options to completing a statutory declaration beyond traditional wet-ink signatures and in-person witnesses.
The submission suggests minor practical changes to further improve the process, and safeguards to protect vulnerable persons.
1 Australian Government Attorney-General’s Department, Statutory Review of the Statutory Declarations Act 1959 (Discussion Paper, January 2026) 2.
Last Updated on 03/03/2026
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