COVID-19 and Signing Contracts

 *Last updated 12 December 2021*

Very few documents are legally required to have a ‘wet’ signature. That is a signature applied using pen and ink. 

Most business contracts you enter into don’t require a ‘wet’ signature and may not require a signature at all to be binding. Contracts are not formalised by a signature; a signature simply serves as good evidence that a person agreed to the contents of a contract. Some examples of documents that would normally need a wet signature are: 

• Wills
• powers of attorney
• deeds
• documents that need to be witnessed, verified or authenticated in some way
• some court documents
• some documents for lodgement with land titles offices
• some governance documents, such as minutes of meetings of directors
• some regulatory documents, depending on the regulator 

Since the introduction of electronic transactions legislation by the Australian federal government and most Australian state and territory governments around the year 2000, it has been possible to sign a lot of agreements electronically. 

Rules do apply. 

Broadly speaking, the requirements for using an electronic signature are:

• you must be able to identify the person signing, either directly or through additional evidence
• the person signing must agree to be bound by their signature
• the method for identifying the signatory and his or her intention in the circumstances is reliable
• all the parties agree to accept e-signatures, which agreement can be inferred by conduct 

Provided that all parties agree, a typewritten name can be used as a signature.  Consider that you may be one of many people in business who have a formal typewritten signature as a standard footer to your emails.

Case study

In Stellard’s case (Stellard Pty Ltd & anor v North Queensland Fuel Pty Ltd [2015] QSC 119) a signature was required because the transaction involved property. There requirement for a signature was in s.59 of the Queensland Property Law Act, which says “No action may be brought upon any contract for the sale… of land… unless the contract… or some memorandum or note of the contract, is in writing, and signed by the party to be charged…”

All exchanges relied upon were either via email, or by conversation. Stellard argued that they were entitled to rely on NQF’s acceptance of their offer to purchase, contained in an email, by virtue of the Queensland electronic transactions legislation. The Court decided that:

• the parties agreed to accept electronic signatures through their conduct, being negotiation via email including stating the offer in the body of the email and receiving the acceptance in the body of an email
• the identity of the person sending the email acceptance was found through evidence of conversations held earlier than the date of the email, and an admission of the sender that they were the person sending the email

What does that mean for you? 

Be aware of what you are negotiating and agreeing to by email. 

CHANGES TO 10 DECEMBER 2021

UPDATE: Electronic signing of certain documents has been made permanent in Queensland, Victoria, and New South Wales. We are yet to see if the other states will follow suit.

Unfortunately, electronic execution by companies and the holding of hybrid and virtual meetings have not yet been made permanent under the Corporations Act and will be considered at the next Senate sitting in 2022.

CHANGES TO 1 JULY 2021

Federal

On 23 April 2021 ASIC extended their temporary ‘no action’ position on the following activities for reporting dates up to 7 July 2021:

• the holding of meetings using appropriate technology;•
• electronic dispatch of notices of meeting including supplementary notices; and•
• public companies holding AGMs within an additional 2 months on the extended term.

There is no allowance or exemption for signing documents electronically. Wet signatures are still required for minutes of meeting, although scanned copies of documents can be kept.

ACT

On 20 February 2021 The ACT Parliament extended the timeframe of relevant COVID legislation.

NSW

On 25 March 2021 NSW Parliament extended COVID timeframes under a variety of legislation with the COVID-19 Recovery Act 2021, to 31 December 2021, but excluded the Electronic Transactions legislation, which had been previously amended on 28 September 2020 by the Stronger Communities Legislation Amendment (Courts and Civil) Act 2020 until 1 January 2022.

QLD

On 14 April 2021 amending legislation was passed by QLD Parliament to extend the expiry date of various legislation impacted by COVID measures to 30 September 2021. However, the time available for electronic signing and witnessing of Wills and enduring powers of attorney ended on 1 July 2021.  

SA

Changes were made by SA Parliament in February 2021.

VIC

On 23 March 2021 Victoria led the way for all Australian jurisdictions by permanently adopting changes to the Electronic Transactions (Victoria) Act 2000, enabling witnessing of signatures by audio visual link, and the electronic creation and signing of Deeds and mortgages.

No other changes were tabled before parliaments around the country before 31 March 2021.

Signing documents during COVID-19 restrictions

After COVID-19 was declared a pandemic and Australian federal and state governments started enacting temporary legislation for greater flexibility, laws were introduced to change the way certain documents, which usually required a wet signature and a witness, could be signed using electronic means.

Changes are not consistent around Australia. Each state or territory has slightly different requirements and not every state or territory enacted relevant laws, so you do need to be conscious of the location of the person signing, and the applicable rules in that place, and when those rules will expire:

*The above table mentions only the first applicable legislation, which is likely to have been amended by further legislation over time, resulting the expiry dates listed. Expiry dates are subject to change.

Signing of corporate documents under australian federal law during covid

Federal law covers signing for and on behalf of companies, as well as the holding of shareholder or member meetings electronically. The legislation was due to expire on 5 November 2020 but was extended.

The Corporations Act is specifically excluded from electronic transactions legislation, so you will normally require a wet signature of directors or secretaries who are signing a document in accordance with s.127 of that Act. The document can still be shared electronically, it just cannot be signed electronically.

Pursuant to s.127 you would usually require two directors, a company secretary and a director or a sole director and secretary to sign on behalf of a company. You usually require both people (if two are signing) to sign the same document on behalf of the company.

The temporary legislation allows for electronic application of signatures when signing for a company, which can occur on separate documents, provided that each document contains the entire contents of the document, and a method was applied to identify each person signing and their intent to be bound, and that method was reliable.

A document signed on behalf of a company another way can still be binding. Section 127 does not limit the ways in which a company can sign a document. 

Permanent changes to the Corporations Act will be considered at the next Senate sitting in 2022 which would allow for electronic signatures and virtual meetings.

Nothing in the legislation appears to enable the electronic signing of minutes of meetings, whether of a board or shareholders.

Signing documents in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) or New South Wales (NSW) during covid 

Measures were introduced to allow for the witnessing and attestation of documents including affidavits, Wills, powers of attorney and health directives. Witnessing can be done by audio visual link provided that:

• both video and audio are active
• the witness watches the signatory sign in real time
• the witness confirms the signing was witnessed by signing the document or a copy of it
• the witness is reasonably satisfied that the document signed and the document witnessed are the same
• the witness includes a statement on the document about how the document was witnessed in accordance with the ACT legislation.

To demonstrate confirmation of witnessing the original signature, that can be done by signing a full copy of the document (counterpart) as soon as possible after witnessing the original or signing a scanned copy of the document signed by the original signatory.

These changes have now been made permanent in New South Wales.

Signing documents in the Northern Territory (NT) during covid

Although the NT does have electronic transactions legislation, no specific amendments have been made to that legislation as a result of COVID. As a result, any documents that needed a wet signature in the NT before COVID restrictions started, still do.

Signing documents in Queensland (Qld) during covid

UPDATE (8 December 2021): Queensland has made permanent the electronic execution of certain documents such as deeds and general powers of attorney for businesses. However, the electronic execution of wills and enduring documents has NOT been made a permanent change and had expired.

Queensland appears to have adopted the most complicated provisions. In Queensland, the witnessing a Will, powers of attorney, affidavit or statutory declaration can be completed by audio visual link, provided that:

• the person witnessing is an Australian legal practitioner, justice of the peace (JP) or commissioner of declarations, notary public or other person mentioned in the regulations
• the witness completes a certificate that is kept with the document
• the witness sees the person sign in real time
• the person signing signs each page of the document
• the witness is satisfied that the signing person is making the document freely and voluntarily

Confirmation of witnessing, in addition to the required certificate, can be done by signing each page of a counterpart or scanned copy of the document signed by the original signatory, as soon as possible.

There are additional variations for affidavits and statutory declarations.

Documents other than Wills and enduring powers of attorney can also be signed electronically provided the method used to identify the signatory and their intend to be bound is reliable, in the circumstances.

Deeds can be signed electronically without a witness provided that the document is clearly identified as a deed. This applies to both individuals and companies, and for companies, where a second director or secretary is to sign, they can sign a counterpart.

Signing documents in South Australia (SA) during covid

While South Australia made amendments to make meetings by electronic means easier, rather than expanding the ability to apply electronic signatures to documents they simply expanded the categories of professional people documents could be sworn or attested in front of.

Witnessing documents by audio visual means is expressly excluded.

Some alterations were made for property related transactions in June 2020.

Signing documents in Tasmania (TAS) during COVID

Rather than specifying document, in Tasmania the legislation is focused on actions taken. So where a document requires a physical actions such as the making, taking, receiving, swearing, signing or witnessing of a document, those actions can be completed electronically, or by audio visual link provided that:

• the witness watches the signatory sign in real time
• the witness attests to the signing by signing the document or a copy of it
• the witness includes a statement on the document about how the document was witnessed in accordance with the Tasmanian legislation.

Signing documents in Victoria (VIC) during COVID

Victoria expanded the categories of people who could take oaths and affidavits first, before then introducing broader measures for the use of electronic signatures. Timing is very important in Victoria. A witness must apply their signature on the same day as the person signing the document.

Witnessing is permitted by audio visual link provided that:

• the witness watches the signatory sign in real time
• the witness confirms the signing was witnessed by signing the document or a copy of it on the same day
• the witness includes a statement on the document about how the document was witnessed in accordance with the Victorian regulation.

There are specific rules around attachments, counterparts and copies of documents that must be met to comply with Victorian requirements.

Under the Victorian Oaths Act a person can electronically write anything on a document, sign, initial or date it electronically under the COVID rules. There is also provision for Wills to be signed and witnessed by audio visual link, provided that the actions result in one document with all signatures and statements relevant to any signing by electronic means, and that all actions are taken on the same day.

Signing documents in Western Australia (WA) during COVID

Witnessing can be done by audio visual link provided that:

• both video and audio are active
• the witness watches the signatory sign in real time
• the witness is satisfied that the document signed and the document witnessed are the same
• the witness signs the document or a copy of it
• the witness includes a statement on the document about how the document was witnessed in accordance with s.23 of the WA legislation.

To demonstrate confirmation of witnessing the original signature, that can be done by signing a full copy of the document (counterpart) as soon as possible after witnessing the original or signing a scanned copy of the document signed by the original signatory.