A decision by Australia’s highest court to admit a secret recording of a man admitting he had raped his wife while she slept, could open the door to secret recordings by victims of serious crime being more readily considered by courts, family lawyers say.
In South Australia, it is illegal to secretly record a private conversation unless it can be proven that the recording was made to protect a person’s lawful interest.
Importantly, the woman gave evidence that she had not made the recording to build a case against her husband, but “so that I could use it to convince myself never to go back to him no matter what happened”.
Whether or not the recording was made to protect the woman’s lawful interest was the dilemma the High Court was being asked to consider.
“Before this, we had some barriers in terms of what was protecting someone’s [lawful] interests,” family lawyer Elise Fordham explained.
“All five High Court justices found that the wife’s lawful interest was actually her bodily autonomy and her integrity, which was her right not to be raped.”
Ms Fordham said the decision means the bar has now been lowered to allow those recordings to be admitted into evidence for family law, criminal law, and domestic violence matters.
An exciting day