Letter · Personal Injury & Compensation

Letter asking that footage, photographs and physical evidence be preserved

A letter asking the person who holds footage or a physical item to stop it being overwritten, deleted or repaired, and to say whether it still exists. In Queensland it can also ask for the documents section 27 or section 47 requires once a notice has been given.

Kind: Letter. A letter or email you adapt and send.
Where it applies: Victoria, Queensland, New South Wales
AI use: Yellow You and the tool draft together, with you directing. You check every statement you rely on.
Law stated as at: 23 October 2026
Status: Maintained. Checked on 23 October 2026 against the 5 authorities it cites, for Victoria, Queensland and New South Wales.
Version: 1
Source: Written for this library

When to use it

Use as soon as the firm is told that a camera, a vehicle, a machine or a surface may show how an injury happened. Send it to the person who controls that material. It does not replace a notice of claim or a claim form.

Used for these tasks

Each task page says how far AI may help with the task and what the lawyer must review.

How AI may be used

The lawyer and the tool draft the hold request from the instructions and any photograph of the scene, and the lawyer checks the camera, the time window and the recipient before it is sent.

AI may

Name the place, the cameras or the item, and the time window from the instructions
Add the Queensland section 27 or section 47 request only after the lawyer confirms a notice has been given
Record the date sent and the reply, including whether the footage had already been overwritten

AI must not

Must not say the recipient is under a criminal duty, or in contempt, if the footage is later gone
Must not ask the recipient to film or follow any person
Must not describe footage as a document the Act requires to be produced unless the lawyer has decided that it is
Must not send the letter to a guessed address

The lawyer checks

The recipient is the person who controls the system or the item, not a general inbox chosen by guess
The time window is no wider than the instructions support
A Queensland statutory request is added only after the notice of claim has been given
Draft only in the firm's approved tool. In Victoria and New South Wales, do not disclose confidential client information without authority under Australian Solicitors' Conduct Rules r 9.2.1. A Queensland solicitor checks the local conduct rules.
If client information leaves the approved environment, check APP 11 and whether there is an eligible data breach under the Privacy Act notifiable data breach scheme.

Method: how the Green, Yellow and Red levels are decided. This is guidance for planning, not legal advice.

Authorities

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