The Acts Amendment (Evidence of Children and Others) Act 1992 (036 of 1992) helped make the evidence of children more ‘credible’ or ‘believable’. It enabled unsworn evidence to be given by a child under 12 years of age, and removed the Judge’s need to ‘warn’ a jury that a child’s evidence might be unreliable.
The Acts Amendment (Evidence of Children and Others) Act 1992 also improved support for children who were witnesses in trials and made it impossible for someone defending themselves to cross-examine a child directly. Judges were empowered to admit written statements alleging sexual abuse into evidence without requiring the child to appear in person, and the amendments also permitted a child to give evidence by video.