{"id":"sr:evidence-miscellaneous-provisions-witness-identity-protection-regulations-0","name":"Evidence (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Witness Identity Protection) Regulations 2023","slug":"evidence-miscellaneous-provisions-witness-identity-protection-regulations-2023","collection":"regulation","jurisdiction":"vic","status":"in_force","isInForce":true,"actNumber":null,"makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":185913,"registerId":"vic-sr:evidence-miscellaneous-provisions-witness-identity-protection-regulations-0-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-05","status":"InForce","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Evidence (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Witness Identity Protection) Regulations 2023","content":"Version No. 001\n\n**Evidence (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Witness Identity Protection) Regulations 2023**\n\n**S.R. No. 39/2023**\n\nVersion as at  \n30 June 2023\n\n**TABLE OF PROVISIONS**\n\n*Regulation Page*\n\n1 Objective 1\n\n2 Authorising provision 1\n\n3 Commencement 1\n\n4 Revocation 1\n\n5 Corresponding laws 1\n\nSchedule 1—Corresponding laws 2\n\n═════════════\n\nEndnotes 3\n\n1 General information 3\n\n2 Table of Amendments 5\n\n3 Explanatory details 6\n\n**Version No.** **001**\n\n**Evidence (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Witness Identity Protection) Regulations 2023**\n\n**S.R. No. 39/2023**\n\nVersion as at  \n30 June 2023\n\n\t1 Objective\n\nThe objective of these Regulations is to prescribe corresponding laws for the purposes of Part IIAA of the **Evidence (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1958**.\n\n\t2 Authorising provision\n\nThese Regulations are made under section 152(2) of the **Evidence (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1958**.\n\n\t3 Commencement\n\nThese Regulations come into operation on 30 June 2023.\n\n\t4 Revocation\n\nThe Evidence (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Witness Identity Protection) Regulations 2013[[1]](#endnote-1) are **revoked**.\n\n\t5 Corresponding laws\n\nFor the purposes of the definition of ***corresponding law*** in section 42BA(1) of the **Evidence (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1958**, a law specified in column 2 of Schedule 1 of a jurisdiction specified opposite that law in column 1 of Schedule 1 is declared to be a law of that jurisdiction that corresponds to Part IIAA of that Act.\n\nSchedule 1—Corresponding laws\n\nRegulation 5\n\n| *Column 1*<br>*Jurisdiction* | *Column 2*<br>*Corresponding law* |\n| --- | --- |\n| Australian Capital Territory | Crimes (Protection of Witness Identity) Act 2011 |\n| Commonwealth | Part IACA of the Crimes Act 1914 |\n| Northern Territory | Police (Special Investigative and Other Powers) Act 2015 |\n| Queensland   <br>Queensland | Division 5 of Part 2 of the Evidence Act 1977<br>Part 3 of the Witness Protection Act 2000 |\n| South Australia | Part 4 of the Criminal Investigation (Covert Operations) Act 2009 |\n| Tasmania | Witness (Identity Protection) Act 2006 |\n| Western Australia | Part 4 of the Criminal Investigation (Covert Powers) Act 2012 |\n\n\n═════════════\n\nEndnotes\n\n1 General information\n\nSee [www.legislation.vic.gov.au](http://www.legislation.vic.gov.au) for Victorian Bills, Acts and current Versions of legislation and up-to-date legislative information.\n\nThe Evidence (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Witness Identity Protection) Regulations 2023, S.R. No. 39/2023 were made on 6 June 2023 by the Governor in Council under section 152(2) of the **Evidence (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1958**, No. 6246/1958 and came into operation on 30 June 2023: regulation 3.\n\nThe Evidence (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Witness Identity Protection) Regulations 2023 will sunset 10 years after the day of making on 6 June 2033 (see section 5 of the **Subordinate Legislation Act 1994**).\n\nINTERPRETATION OF LEGISLATION ACT 1984 (ILA)\n\nStyle changes\n\nSection 54A of the ILA authorises the making of the style changes set out in Schedule 1 to that Act.\n\nReferences to ILA s. 39B\n\nSidenotes which cite ILA s. 39B refer to section 39B of the ILA which provides that where an undivided regulation, rule or clause of a Schedule is amended by the insertion of one or more subregulations, subrules or subclauses the original regulation, rule or clause becomes subregulation, subrule or subclause (1) and is amended by the insertion of the expression \"(1)\" at the beginning of the original regulation, rule or clause.\n\nInterpretation\n\nAs from 1 January 2001, amendments to section 36 of the ILA have the following effects:\n\n• Headings\n\nAll headings included in a Statutory Rule which is made on or after  \n1 January 2001 form part of that Statutory Rule. Any heading inserted in a Statutory Rule which was made before 1 January 2001, by a Statutory Rule made on or after 1 January 2001, forms part of that Statutory Rule.  \nThis includes headings to Parts, Divisions or Subdivisions in a Schedule; Orders; Parts into which an Order is divided; clauses; regulations; rules; items; tables; columns; examples; diagrams; notes or forms.  \nSee section 36(1A)(2A)(2B).\n\n• Examples, diagrams or notes\n\nAll examples, diagrams or notes included in a Statutory Rule which is made on or after 1 January 2001 form part of that Statutory Rule. Any examples, diagrams or notes inserted in a Statutory Rule which was made before 1 January 2001, by a Statutory Rule made on or after 1 January 2001, form part of that Statutory Rule. See section 36(3A).\n\n• Punctuation\n\nAll punctuation included in a Statutory Rule which is made on or after  \n1 January 2001 forms part of that Statutory Rule. Any punctuation inserted in a Statutory Rule which was made before 1 January 2001, by a Statutory Rule made on or after 1 January 2001, forms part of that Statutory Rule.  \nSee section 36(3B).\n\n• Provision numbers\n\nAll provision numbers included in a Statutory Rule form part of that Statutory Rule, whether inserted in the Statutory Rule before, on or after  \n1 January 2001. Provision numbers include regulation numbers, rule numbers, subregulation numbers, subrule numbers, paragraphs and subparagraphs. See section 36(3C).\n\n• Location of \"legislative items\"\n\nA \"legislative item\" is a penalty, an example or a note. As from 13 October 2004, a legislative item relating to a provision of a Statutory Rule is taken to be at the foot of that provision even if it is preceded or followed by another legislative item that relates to that provision. For example, if a penalty at the foot of a provision is followed by a note, both of these legislative items will be regarded as being at the foot of that provision. See section 36B.\n\n• Other material\n\nAny explanatory memorandum, table of provisions, endnotes, index and other material printed after the Endnotes does not form part of a Statutory Rule. See section 36(3)(3D)(3E).\n\n2 Table of Amendments\n\nThere are no amendments made to the Evidence (Miscellaneous Provisions) (Witness Identity Protection) Regulations 2023 by statutory rules, subordinate instruments and Acts.\n\n3 Explanatory details\n\n1. Reg. 4: S.R. No. 92/2013. [↑](#endnote-ref-1)","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"issue_detection":{"absurdities":[],"contradictions":[]},"summary":{"complexity_score":4,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"Based on the available text, the regulations appear to remain within the scope of their stated purpose — providing procedural mechanisms for witness identity protection under the parent Evidence (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act. No scope expansion or contraction is evident, though the absence of substantive regulatory content in the provided text limits a definitive assessment."},"complexity_factors":["Regulations sit beneath a parent Act, requiring cross-referencing to understand the full legal framework","Witness identity protection involves balancing competing rights: open justice versus witness safety","Likely involves interaction with court rules, criminal procedure laws, and potentially national cross-jurisdictional schemes","The provided text is almost entirely metadata and version history — the actual regulatory content is not available for full analysis, creating analytical uncertainty","Procedural regulations of this type often require precise compliance with prescribed forms and timeframes"],"plain_english_summary":"These regulations set out procedural rules for protecting the real identities of witnesses (e.g., undercover officers or informants) in legal proceedings, governing how applications, forms, disclosure and storage of protected information are handled. They affect witnesses, courts and tribunals, lawyers and parties, and may restrict public access to witness identities to protect safety.\n\nThe provided text lacks the full substantive rules — only metadata and version history are shown, limiting detailed analysis."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The instrument revokes the 2013 Regulations and re-declares a list of corresponding laws for Part IIAA. The text does not state any expansion or contraction of Part IIAA’s substantive reach; it operates by replacing the prior list rather than altering Part IIAA itself, so no clear change of statutory scope is recorded in this instrument."},"complexity_factors":["Declaratory mapping of corresponding laws in Reg 5 and Schedule 1 (straightforward list-based mechanism).","Revocation of prior regulations (Reg 4) requires checking earlier instrument for historical comparison.","Cross-references to external statutes and Part IIAA (Authorising provision Reg 2; Reg 5) create reliance on other laws for operative effect.","Administrative commencement and sunset detail in Reg 3 and Endnotes introduces simple timing considerations.","Interpretive references to the Interpretation of Legislation Act in Endnotes increase cross-reference work but do not change substance."],"plain_english_summary":"These Regulations identify which Commonwealth, state and territory statutes are treated as ‘corresponding laws’ for Part IIAA of the Evidence (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1958, revoke the 2013 regulations and commence on 30 June 2023. They matter to courts, prosecutors and agencies that rely on witness‑identity protection rules because they determine which external laws are recognised when Part IIAA is applied; the change is procedural and works by cross‑reference to the listed statutes."},"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"},"kimi_summary":{"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"The legislation maintains its original narrow purpose: specifying corresponding laws for mutual recognition of witness identity protection schemes. The 2023 version updates the specific statutes listed (for example, reflecting legislative changes in other jurisdictions since 2013), but does not expand beyond this technical updating function."},"complexity_factors":["Extremely short: only 5 regulations plus a single schedule","No defined terms section — relies entirely on definitions in the parent Act","No conditional logic or nested exceptions","Single cross-reference mechanism: Schedule 1 is a straightforward lookup table mapping jurisdictions to their specific legislation","No operative provisions creating rights or obligations — purely declaratory/specifying function","Minimal legislative machinery: objective, authorisation, commencement, revocation, and one substantive prescription"],"plain_english_summary":"This is a short piece of Victorian subordinate legislation (regulations) that updates which interstate and Commonwealth laws are recognised as 'corresponding laws' for witness identity protection.\n\n**What it does:**\n- **Revokes** the old 2013 regulations and replaces them with this 2023 version.\n- **Lists specific laws** from other Australian jurisdictions (ACT, Commonwealth, NT, Queensland, SA, Tasmania, WA) that are declared to 'correspond' to Victoria's witness identity protection scheme under Part IIAA of the *Evidence (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1958*.\n\n**Why this matters:**\nVictoria has special rules allowing witnesses to give evidence without revealing their identity in certain serious criminal cases. For these protections to work across borders, Victoria needs to recognise similar laws in other states and territories. This regulation tells Victorian courts: 'If another jurisdiction has a witness identity protection law on this list, we treat it as equivalent to ours.'\n\n**Who it affects:**\n- Prosecutors and defence lawyers handling cases with protected witnesses\n- Courts determining whether witness anonymity orders apply\n- Witnesses in serious criminal matters whose safety depends on identity protection\n\n**Key point:** This is essentially a **reference table** — it doesn't create new substantive rules, but ensures Victoria's witness protection framework stays current with other jurisdictions' legislation."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/evidence-miscellaneous-provisions-witness-identity-protection-regulations-2023","history":"/api/acts/evidence-miscellaneous-provisions-witness-identity-protection-regulations-2023/history","analysis":"/api/acts/evidence-miscellaneous-provisions-witness-identity-protection-regulations-2023/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/evidence-miscellaneous-provisions-witness-identity-protection-regulations-2023/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/evidence-miscellaneous-provisions-witness-identity-protection-regulations-2023/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/evidence-miscellaneous-provisions-witness-identity-protection-regulations-2023/documents"}}