After a gap of nearly twenty years, another judge of the County Court of Victoria has recognised the existence of a common law tort for the invasion of privacy in Waller (a pseudonym) v Barrett (a pseudonym) [2024] VCC 962 (‘Waller’). This represents a striking development in the common law of Australia and, notably, arose only weeks before the Second Reading of a Commonwealth Bill that proposes to introduce a statutory tort for serious invasions of privacy into Australian legal landscape. Continue reading
The International Forum for Responsible Media Blog
Category: Australia (Page 2 of 28)
Almost four years since the Privacy Act review commenced, the Australian government has introduced a reform bill that fails to make most of the fundamental changes needed to modernise our privacy laws. Attorney-General Mark Dreyfus said in May that the government would introduce legislation to reform a privacy regime that’s “woefully outdated and unfit for the digital age”. Continue reading
Western Australia Senator Linda Reynolds is already embroiled in a bruising defamation fight against her former staffer Brittany Higgins. Now, Opposition Leader Peter Dutton is reportedly considering suing independent MP Zali Steggall after she told him to “stop being racist”. Continue reading
A campaign to block children’s access to social media to limit online harms and unhealthy internet use is picking up momentum in Australian politics. The current age limit for platforms such as Facebook, Instagram and TikTok is 13, but some state governments are calling to raise this age to 16. Continue reading
Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson’s victory in the defamation action brought against them by Bruce Lehrmann is the second big win inside a year for the Australian media using the defence of truth. However, it comes at a heavy cost to the reputations of the industry and the profession of journalism. Continue reading
Bruce Lehrmann has lost his defamation suit against Channel Ten and journalist Lisa Wilkinson after the media defendants proved, on the balance of probabilities, that Lehrmann raped his colleague Brittany Higgins in Parliament House in 2019. Continue reading
Inforrm reported on a large number of defamation cases from around the world in 2023. Following a now established tradition, with my widely read posts on 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021 and 2022 defamation cases, I present my personal selection of the most legally and factually interesting cases from England, Australia, Canada and New Zealand from the past year – with three “bonus” cases from the US. Continue reading
Lachlan Murdoch’s defamation proceedings against Crikey promised to be a test case on the new public interest defence. Following Murdoch’s discontinuation of his claim in April, the scope and application of the public interest defence to defamation await another appropriate vehicle. Continue reading
At the heart of the spectacular defamation trial brought by decorated Australian soldier Ben Roberts-Smith were two key questions. Had the Age, the Sydney Morning Herald and the Canberra Times damaged his reputation when they published in 2018 a series of explosive stories accusing him of murder and other crimes while in Afghanistan? And could the newspapers successfully defend their reporting as true? Continue reading
Former Liberal Party staffer Bruce Lehrmann has been given the all-clear to continue with defamation proceedings against several media outlets and journalists regarding reporting about Brittany Higgins’ rape allegations. Continue reading
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