This provision has not been checked by a human. The text below was read automatically from the official PDF and has not yet been verified against it, so it may differ from the provision as published — in its wording, its numbering, or where one provision ends and the next begins. For the authorised text, see legislation.vic.gov.au.

Clause 78A

provides an exception to the opinion rule for evidence of an opinion expressed by a member of an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander group about the existence or non-existence, or the content, of the traditional laws and customs of the group. This clause is in accordance with the 2005 LRCs' Report (recommendation 19-2). The 2005 LRCs' Report recommended that a member of an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander group (the group) should not have to prove that he or she has specialised knowledge based on training, study or experience before being able to give opinion evidence about the traditional law and custom of his or her own group. People who are not members of the group will have their competence to give such evidence determined under clause 79, based on their specialised knowledge based on training, study or experience. The requirement of relevance in clauses 55 and 56 may operate to exclude opinions which do not have sufficient indications of reliability, for example where the person is a member of the group but has had little or no contact with that group. Reliability can be enhanced through use of judicial powers to control proceedings, to create a culturally appropriate context for the giving of evidence regarding the existence or content of particular traditional laws and customs.