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Legislative Assembly for the ACT: 1996 Week 11 Hansard (26 September) . . Page.. 3643 ..

The National Witness Protection Program demonstrates to the community that those who are prepared to assist in the enforcement of the law may confidently expect to be protected by it. Witness protection typically involves the provision of new identity documentation such as a birth certificate, marriage certificate, passport, tax file number, Medicare number, etc; and may involve relocating witnesses and their family.

Although the number of ACT witnesses formally utilising the NWPP as a result of judicial proceedings commenced in the ACT has been few, the need for a legislative basis for participation in the scheme follows from the enactment, in 1995, of the Witness Protection Act (1994) (C'th). This Act established a program for the protection and assistance of certain witnesses and other persons involved in proceedings deriving from Commonwealth jurisdiction.

The Commonwealth witness protection legislation requires an arrangement to be in force between the Commonwealth and the State or Territory and complementary witness protection law to be in force in a State or Territory before Commonwealth identity documents (such as passports) will be provided for those people on State/Territory witness protection programs

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