Legal guidance about electronic signatures on documents

Interview with Kent Davey, Principal of Technology law firm TechComm Legal

With so many of our clients interested in having forms and contracts approved electronically, we asked our Lawyer, Kent Davey from TechComm Legal about how Australian law views electronic signatures.

What is an electronic signature?

An electronic signature is a method used to identify a person and to indicate his or her approval of the information which he or she has communicated. 

A person may electronically sign a document by simply typing his or her name into the document, inserting an electronic representation of his or her signature into the document (e.g. a picture or image of the person’s signature) or entering a PIN code.  

However, whether or not the person will be legally bound by using an electronic signature in any of these forms will depend upon a number of factors which are considered below.

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Are eSignatures acceptable on my contracts or eforms?

We use electronic signatures within HROnboard, and our other eforms solutions, and are often asked by clients “can I accept electronic signatures and electronic approvals on my contracts?”

We define an electronic signature, or eSignature, as the electronic process which signifies an approval/agreement to a contract, form, or policy which is presented in electronic format. Our clients such as the ATO and Brookfield Multiplex use our HROnboard solution and have elected to use eSignature solutions.

Join our September onboarding webinar

Learn how paperless onboarding cuts costs by 80%

Join us for a free 30 minute webinar on Tuesday 18th September, at 12:00pm. REGISTER NOW Hear Bryan Ericson, Affirm Software’s CEO, discuss latest onboarding trends and show you how to: Drastically reduce onboarding time, costs and improve productivity Include electronic approvals of contracts, forms and policies online Integrate onboarding software within your existing HRIS systems Overcome non compliance risks HROnboardTM, used by the ATO, Brookfield and AMP converts paper based onboarding processes into an efficient, highly secure paperless onboarding solution. HROnboard includes dynamic employment contracts creation, electronic acceptances of contracts, policies and pre population of forms. "It's amazing how fast we can get offers accepted now. It took only 20 minutes from the onboarding pack being sent, until it was all accepted online, including all reqired forms and approval to company policies" - Kristen Madigan, HR Manager, Brookfield. REGISTER NOW After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the webinar.