Over the past few years, there has been an enormous growth in the use of electronic mail between government agencies and the public. Electronic mail in particular is often used as a quick and efficient means of communicating with others on an informal or semi-formal basis and supervising officers are not in a position to view all outgoing emails. This is a normal and acceptable means of communicating and now is a key aspect of improving the delivery of government services.

However, to ensure that government agencies provide a level of protection in cases where litigation may occur due to such electronic messages, appropriate disclaimers should be inserted into outgoing emails. In addition, disclaimers should appear on facsimiles and web sites.

Below is a suggested disclaimer for electronic mail which you may adapt for your needs or which could be re-worded for facsimiles:

This message is intended for the addressee named and may contain confidential information. If you are not the intended recipient, please delete it and notify the sender. Views expressed in this message are those of the individual sender, and are not necessarily the views of the (agency name).

Disclaimers would not necessarily be a defence against legal action for defamation or other reasons, nevertheless, they may go some way to demonstrating that an agency has taken steps to prevent the unauthorised dissemination of information or statements made that are not supported by the agency.

In some circumstances, however, agency emails will clearly be "official" and the last sentence of the suggested disclaimer would not be appropriate to include. Furthermore, if certain emails go through a similar authorisation process to formal, paper-based correspondence, then it may well be appropriate for no disclaimer to be attached at all.

In deciding what wording should be included in a disclaimer and when a disclaimer should be attached, CEOs need to take into account a range of issues including:

Any special legal status enjoyed by an agency (eg. Protection from defamation or immunity from legal proceedings)

• The increasing importance of electronic communications and transactions in service delivery
• The range and types of agency communications
• The processes and systems for authorising both electronic and paper-based correspondence, and
• The capabilities of electronic mail and related systems to prompt for the attachment of signatures and/or disclaimers

C. Gellatly
Director-General