{"id":"electronic-communications-regulations-2017","name":"Electronic Communications Regulations 2017","slug":"electronic-communications-regulations-2017","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"sa","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":235404,"registerId":"sa-electronic-communications-regulations-2017-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-06","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Electronic Communications Regulations 2017","content":"South Australia\nElectronic Communications Regulations 2017\nunder the Electronic Communications Act 2000\n\nContents\n1\tShort title\n3\tInterpretation\n3A\tGovernment agency\n4\tPrescribed legal proceedings\n5\tCertain transactions excluded from section 7 of Act\n6\tCertain requirements and permissions excluded from Part 2 Division 2 of Act\n7\tSection 10(1)(c) of Act not to apply in certain circumstances\nLegislative history\n\n1—Short title\nThese regulations may be cited as the Electronic Communications Regulations 2017.\n3—Interpretation\nIn these regulations, unless the contrary intention appears—\nAct means the Electronic Communications Act 2000;\nprescribed legal proceedings—see regulation 4.\n3A—Government agency\nFor the purposes of paragraph (g) of the definition of government agency in section 5(1) of the Act, the Government Printer is declared as a government agency.\n4—Prescribed legal proceedings\n\t(1)\tSubject to this regulation, the following proceedings are prescribed legal proceedings for the purposes of Part 2 Division 2 of the Act:\n\t(a)\tproceedings under the Summary Procedure Act 1921 relating to a summary or indictable offence;\n\t(b)\tproceedings (including administrative processes) relating to—\n\t(i)\tthe enforcement of a sentence for an offence; or\n\t(ii)\tthe enforcement and recovery of fines; or\n\t(iii)\tthe issue and recovery of expiation fees;\n\t(c)\tproceedings relating to—\n\t(i)\torders of a court of a restrictive nature made under the Summary Procedure Act 1921, such as a non‑association order, a place restriction order, a paedophile restraining order or a child protection restraining order; or\n\t(ii)\torders of a court made under the Intervention Orders (Prevention of Abuse) Act 2009.\n\t(2)\tA court order of a kind referred to in subregulation (1)(c)(i) or (ii) that is required under the relevant Act to be served on a person in a specified way must be served in the way specified in that Act.\n\t(3)\tNothing in this regulation requires any information relating to prescribed legal proceedings to be given to a person to whom those proceedings relate by means of an electronic communication if the information is sensitive material within the meaning of section 67H of the Evidence Act 1929.\n5—Certain transactions excluded from section 7 of Act\n\t(1)\tSubject to this regulation, section 7(1) of the Act does not apply to the following:\n\t(a)\ta law of this jurisdiction requiring a document to be witnessed, attested, verified or authenticated under the signature of a person other than the author of the document;\n\t(b)\ta law of this jurisdiction requiring that delivery of a document be effected by personal service only;\n\t(c)\tsection 13 of the Second-hand Dealers and Pawnbrokers Act 1996.\n\t(2)\tSubregulation (1)(a) does not apply to a law relating to the disposition of land, to the creation or disposition of an interest in land, or to any other dealing or other action relating to an interest in land.\n\t(3)\tSubregulation (1) does not apply to prescribed legal proceedings.\n6—Certain requirements and permissions excluded from Part 2 Division 2 of Act\n\t(1)\tSubject to this regulation, Part 2 Division 2 of the Act does not apply—\n\t(a)\tto the following requirements or classes of requirements:\n\t(i)\ta requirement under a law of this jurisdiction that a document be witnessed, attested, verified or authenticated under the signature of a person other than the author of the document;\n\t(ii)\ta requirement under a law of this jurisdiction that delivery of a document be effected by personal service only;\n\t(iii)\ta requirement under section 13 of the Second-hand Dealers and Pawnbrokers Act 1996; or\n\t(b)\tto the following permissions or classes of permissions:\n\t(i)\ta permission under a law of this jurisdiction for a document to be witnessed, attested, verified or authenticated under the signature of a person other than the author of the document;\n\t(ii)\ta permission under a law of this jurisdiction for a document to be served by personal service only.\n\t(2)\tSubparagraphs (i) and (ii) of subregulation (1)(a) and subregulation (1)(b) do not apply to a law relating to the disposition of land, to the creation or disposition of an interest in land, or to any other dealing or other action relating to an interest in land.\n\t(3)\tSubregulation (1) does not apply to prescribed legal proceedings.\n7—Section 10(1)(c) of Act not to apply in certain circumstances\nSection 10(1)(c) of the Act does not apply if an electronic form of the document is produced by means of the software application authorised by the Minister and known as mySA GOV.\nLegislative history\nNotes\n\t•\tFor further information relating to the Act and subordinate legislation made under the Act see the Index of South Australian Statutes or www.legislation.sa.gov.au.\nFormerly\nElectronic Transactions Regulations 2017\nLegislation revoked by principal regulations\nThe Electronic Communications Regulations 2017 revoked the following:\nElectronic Transactions Regulations 2002\nPrincipal regulations and variations\nNew entries appear in bold.\nYear\nNo\nReference\nCommencement\n2017\n265\nGazette 29.8.2017 p3821 \n1.9.2017: r 2\n2021\n53\nGazette 13.5.2021 p1373\n13.5.2021: r 2\nProvisions varied\nNew entries appear in bold.\nEntries that relate to provisions that have been deleted appear in italics.\nProvision\nHow varied\nCommencement\nr 1\nvaried by 53/2021 r 4\n13.5.2021\nr 2\nomitted under Legislation Revision and Publication Act 2002\n13.5.2021\nr 3\n\n\nAct\nvaried by 53/2021 r 5\n13.5.2021\nr 3A\ninserted by 53/2021 r 6\n13.5.2021\nSch 1\nomitted under Legislation Revision and Publication Act 2002\n13.5.2021\n","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The regulations appear consistent with their original purpose as subsidiary rules supporting the Electronic Communications Act 2000. The 2021 amendments added the Government Printer (regulation 3A) and made minor updates, but did not fundamentally expand beyond the original scope of operationalising electronic transaction rules."},"complexity_factors":["Multiple nested exceptions: regulations 5 and 6 contain subregulations that exclude certain transactions, then immediately create exceptions to those exclusions (e.g., land transactions are excepted from the exclusion)","Cross-referencing between the regulations and the parent Act (Electronic Communications Act 2000) requires flipping between instruments to understand scope","Defined term \"prescribed legal proceedings\" is used as a conditional trigger across multiple regulations (regulations 4, 5(3), 6(3)) but its definition spans multiple subparagraphs covering diverse legal contexts","Specific statutory references to external Acts (Summary Procedure Act 1921, Intervention Orders Act 2009, Second-hand Dealers and Pawnbrokers Act 1996, Evidence Act 1929) require familiarity with multiple legislative schemes","Regulation 7 contains a specific carve-out for a named software application (mySA GOV), creating a technology-specific exception that may require updating if software changes"],"plain_english_summary":"These regulations set the rules for when electronic communications (emails, digital documents, etc.) can be used instead of paper in South Australia.\n\n**What it does:**\n- **Carves out exceptions** to the main Electronic Communications Act 2000, specifying when you *cannot* use electronic methods and when you *can*.\n- **Protects sensitive legal processes:** Court proceedings, criminal cases, intervention orders, and fine enforcement are treated specially—these are \"prescribed legal proceedings\" where electronic communication rules apply differently.\n- **Requires paper for certain formalities:** Documents that need witnessing, attestation (official confirmation of authenticity), or personal service (hand-delivery to a specific person) generally can't go electronic—except for land transactions, which *can* use electronic methods despite normally needing witnesses.\n- **Names specific software:** The government app \"mySA GOV\" gets special treatment for producing electronic documents.\n- **Expands government agencies:** Adds the Government Printer to the list of government agencies covered by the Act.\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- Anyone dealing with courts, police, or fines in SA\n- People buying/selling property (special electronic rules apply)\n- Second-hand dealers and pawnbrokers (specific excluded requirements)\n- Government agencies using electronic systems\n\n**Why it matters:**\nIt draws the line between \"digital is fine\" and \"you still need paper and ink.\" It ensures sensitive legal documents (like restraining orders or criminal charges) get proper handling, while allowing modern electronic methods for routine government and land transactions."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":5,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"Yes. The legislative history records amendments in 2021 (regulation instrument 53/2021) that varied regs 1–3 and inserted regulation 3A, which expressly declares the Government Printer a government agency. Those variations modify which bodies and documents fall within the regulations' electronic‑communication rules (see legislative history entries: 53/2021, comm. 13.5.2021)."},"complexity_factors":["Multiple cross‑references to other statutes and specialised proceedings (Summary Procedure Act 1921; Intervention Orders (Prevention of Abuse) Act 2009; Second-hand Dealers and Pawnbrokers Act 1996) — see reg 4(1)(a)-(c), reg 5(1)(c).","Layered carve‑outs between the Act and these regulations: exclusions from section 7(1) and from Part 2 Division 2 create conditional applicability rather than a single rule — see regs 5 and 6.","Specific confidentiality/sensitivity exception limiting electronic delivery of sensitive evidence material (Evidence Act 1929) — see reg 4(3).","Special treatment for dealings in land: several exclusions disapply electronic substitution for land transactions and related requirements — see regs 5(2), 6(2).","Ministerial authorisation creates a delegated‑discretion pathway for one authorised software (mySA GOV) to satisfy a statutory electronic‑form condition — see reg 7.","Statutory declaration that the Government Printer counts as a government agency affects which bodies can rely on electronic communications rules — see reg 3A.","Interplay between mandatory service methods and regulated electronic options means practitioners must check both the principal Act and these regulations for compliance."],"plain_english_summary":"These regulations set when electronic communications are treated as legally effective under the Electronic Communications Act 2000. They identify which court and enforcement proceedings may use electronic service, carve out requirements that must remain paper or personal service (including many witnessing and land‑deal rules), declare the Government Printer a government agency, and limit a statutory electronic‑form exception to the Minister‑authorised mySA GOV application. They affect courts, agencies, businesses that serve documents, and people who must be served with legal papers."},"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"flash_summary_failed":{"failed":true,"reason":"A positive credit balance is required for all requests, including BYOK, so fallback providers remain available. Add credits at https://vercel.com/d?to=%2F%5Bteam%5D%2F%7E%2Fai%3Fmodal%3Dtop-up to continue.","source":"analysis-cron"},"summary":{"complexity_score":1,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Scope cannot be assessed as the legislative content was not retrievable. The document provided contains only a website error page from the South Australian legislation website, with no substantive regulatory text to analyse."},"complexity_factors":["No legislative content was retrievable — the source URL returned a 404 Page Not Found error","The document consists entirely of website navigation elements and error messaging, not legislative text","Complexity cannot be meaningfully assessed without access to the actual regulations"],"plain_english_summary":"The Electronic Communications Regulations 2017 (SA) could not be retrieved (link returned “Page Not Found”), so the regulation text isn’t available here and no specific analysis can be provided. This matters to anyone relying on or affected by South Australian rules for making documents legally valid by electronic means (agencies, businesses, the public). To obtain the instrument, search legislation.sa.gov.au or contact the South Australian OPC at OPCWeb@sa.gov.au."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/electronic-communications-regulations-2017","history":"/api/acts/electronic-communications-regulations-2017/history","analysis":"/api/acts/electronic-communications-regulations-2017/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/electronic-communications-regulations-2017/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/electronic-communications-regulations-2017/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/electronic-communications-regulations-2017/documents"}}