The Attorney-General has “remade” regulations under the Electronic Transactions Act to increase the list of banking and credit-related documents that can be sent electronically.

The current Electronic Transaction Regulations sunset on October 1. The remade regulations reduce the number of exemptions from 173 to 93 (exemptions apply where it is deemed not appropriate to provide information electronically).

Some of the laws affected by the change include the ASIC Act, the Banking Act, the National Consumer Credit Protection Act and the National Consumer Credit Protection Regulations and the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act.

An explanatory statement accompanying the new regulation says: “For legislation administered by APRA, only specified information gathering provisions are now exempt.

“This will enable technology neutral communication between APRA and businesses. The remaining exemptions are necessary to enable APRA to obtain hard copy materials when it needs them to undertake its regulatory functions.”

The principal of Bright Corporate Law, David Jacobson, said in a note to clients that the effect of the change on credit contracts and documents would be to allow the following documents to be sent electronically: a guarantee; a copy of the guarantee; a copy of a contract document given to a guarantor; and a notice setting out particulars of a change in the terms of a contract.

Jacobson says there are a number of credit-related documents that still won’t be provided electronically. These include default notices, a request for entry to premises and a notice of intention to repossess.