19. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Traditional Laws and Customs

19–1 The uniform Evidence Acts should be amended to provide an exception to the hearsay rule for evidence relevant to Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander traditional laws and customs.

19–2 The uniform Evidence Acts should be amended to provide an exception to the opinion evidence 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.

19–3 The definition of ‘traditional laws and customs’ in the uniform Evidence Acts should include ‘the customary laws, traditions, customs, observances, practices, knowledge and beliefs of a group (including a kinship group) of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander persons’.