Commonwealth Consolidated Acts Commonwealth Consolidated Acts(1) Subject to this section, where a child is examined without the leave of the court, the evidence resulting from the examination which relates to the abuse of, or the risk of abuse of, the child is not admissible in proceedings under this Act.
(2) Where a person causes a child to be examined for the purpose of deciding:
(a) to bring proceedings under this Act involving an allegation that the child has been abused or is at risk of being abused; or
(b) to make an allegation in proceedings under this Act that the child has been abused or is at risk of being abused;
subsection (1) does not apply in relation to evidence resulting from the first examination which the person caused the child to undergo.
(3) In considering whether to give leave for a child to be examined, the court must have regard to the following matters:
(a) whether the proposed examination is likely to provide relevant information that is unlikely to be obtained otherwise;
(b) the qualifications of the person who proposes to conduct the examination to conduct that examination;
(c) whether any distress likely to be caused to the child by the examination will be outweighed by the value of the information that might be obtained from the examination;
(d) any distress already caused to the child by any previous examination associated with the proceedings or with related proceedings;
(e) any other matter that the court thinks is relevant.
(4) In proceedings under this Act, a court may admit evidence which is otherwise inadmissible under this section where it is satisfied that:
(a) the evidence relates to relevant matters on which the evidence already before the court is inadequate; and
(b) the court will not be able to determine the proceedings properly unless the evidence is admitted; and
(c) the welfare of the child concerned is likely to be served by the admission of the evidence.
(5) In this section:
"examined" , in relation to a child, means:
(a) subjected to a medical procedure; or
(b) examined or assessed by a psychiatrist or psychologist (other than by a family counsellor or family consultant).
Note: Section 69ZV is relevant to evidence of a representation by a child, if the admissibility of the evidence would otherwise be affected by the law against hearsay.