New law allows witnessing important documents to continue via video conference

The extension of the process will carry through to the end of 2021 and include documents such as wills, powers of attorney and statutory declarations.

"This law enables arrangements introduced at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic to reduce face-to-face contact to continue," said Hawkesbury MP Robyn Preston

"These arrangements allow a witness to see the signatory signing a document in real time over an audio-visual link (AVL).

"People in the Hawkesbury have already had the opportunity to take advantage of video conferencing technology to complete these transactions safely and efficiently and I'm thrilled that this practice can now continue."

Under the extension, a witness can sign a document, or a copy of the document, to confirm they witnessed the signatory's signature via AVL.

This could be done on a hard copy, which is scanned and sent to the witness or on an identical counterpart of the document the signatory signs.

Traditional methods of signing and witnessing these documents remain in place.