The Federal Court of Australia has released long-awaited rules that require companies involved in certain legal disputes to exchange documents in a searchable, electronic format. The “e-discovery” move is part of a government effort to overhaul Australia’s legal system—it wants to reduce compliance costs and make the country an easier place for foreign companies to do business.

The court’s new Practice Note applies to any proceeding where a judge has told the parties that discovery of documents should be in electronic format, or where it wants to conduct a hearing using electronic documents. The note sets out some of the principles that the parties will have to follow. It comes with template agreements, such as document management protocols and pre-discovery checklists, that parties are meant to discuss and then adopt.

The new note means that businesses will need procedures to preserve e-mails and other electronic messages, according to David Jacobson, a blogger and partner in Australian law firm Langes+. “Businesses will need to have technology in place to ensure that discovery orders can be complied with,” he added.

The Australian government recently announced a review of the way the country’s lawyers operated, with Attorney-General Robert McClelland telling one newspaper that the laws used to control the profession across the country’s six states and two territories had grown to become an “unwieldy monster.”

In a separate statement, McClelland said: “Regulation remains overly complex and inconsistent and each jurisdiction maintains its own regulatory structure.” Reform could produce significant efficiencies and cost savings, he said, adding: “Compliance costs would be significantly reduced for the profession and consumers of legal services, especially those operating across borders, and Australia’s international competitiveness would be strengthened.”