Defamation Law In Australia

A comprehensive, up-to-date account of the law of defamation in the various Australian jurisdictions and in New Zealand. A comparative approach has been adopted, not only to enhance the book's utility in situations involving multijurisdictional elements, but also to promote a degree of uniformity throughout the jurisdictions covered.

Read the review first published in Ethos - Journal of the ACT Law Society.Read the review first published in the Law Institute Journal - Law Institute of Victoria .The law of defamation strikes a delicate balance between the rights of freedom of speech and protection of reputation. In Australia there is no general right to publish statements freely and without inhibition. Defamation Law in Australia is an essential reference work for not only legal practitioners, but also publishers, journalists and students of this area of law. Following the introduction of the Defamation Act 2005, defamation law is now substantially uniform. The provisions of the Defamation Act 2005 are identified and explained and important topics such as reputation and freedom of speech are explored. A full reproduction of the Defamation Act 2005 is provided in an Appendix, together with a Comparative Table of Defamation Statutes, contrasting the previous legislation with the new Act.This second edition has been completely revised to reflect changes to legislation and case law, including an analysis of major High Court and Court of Appeal decisions relating to defences of truth, common law qualified privilege and fair comment. It addresses new developments in invasion of privacy law in Australia and explores topical issues such as the procedure to identify publishers of online defamatory material.

'Because the law of defamation is about reputation and thus necessarily about community and social attitudes, Baker's serious empirical analysis of just those community and social attitudes about defamation and about reputation is a novel and important contribution to the literature on libel and slander. It will be a useful corrective to the various empirically unsupported assertions that dominate the court cases and the academic literature on the topic.' Frederick Schauer, University of Virginia, US 'This book shines a welcome light on a neglected area of defamation law: how juries and judges determine what it means to say a statement is defamatory. The author employs well-designed empirical research to provide concrete answers, and the reform he proposes is sensible and workable. The book should be must-reading for anyone who seeks to understand how the law does or does not protect reputation especially lawyers and judges who try libel cases.' David A. Anderson, University of Texas Law School, US 'When defamation jurors decide whether a statement about someone is "defamatory", the question for them to answer is whether it would generate disapproval among "ordinary reasonable people". It has generally been assumed that they answer this question correctly. What Roy Baker discovered through empirical research is that this assumption may often be wrong. This fascinating and important book sets out his findings, alongside a broad-ranging and perceptive analysis of the law's approach to defining "defamatory".' Michael Chesterman, The University of New South Wales, Australia 'This refreshingly original work is an essential addition to the libraries of all defamation aficionados. Through empirical evidence, including interviews with judges and practitioners, and surveys of the general public, Dr Baker convincingly demonstrates the human propensity to overestimate the negative effect that defamatory imputations may have on other people ("the third person effect"). The conventional "ordinary reasonable person" test becomes in practice an "ordinary unreasonable person" test, regrettably lowering the defamation threshold and further curtailing freedom of communication.' Michael Gillooly, The University of Western Australia The common law determines whether a publication is defamatory by considering how 'ordinary reasonable people' would respond to it. But how does the law work in practice? Who are these 'ordinary reasonable people' and what do they think? This book examines the psychology behind how judges, juries and lawyers decide what is defamatory. Drawing on a thorough examination of case law, as well as extensive empirical research, including surveys involving over 4,000 members of the general public, interviews with judges and legal practitioners and focus groups representing various sections of the community, this book concludes that the law reflects fundamental misperceptions about what people think and how they are influenced by the media. The result is that the law tends to operate so as to unfairly disadvantage publishers, thus contributing to defamation law's infamous 'chilling effect' on free speech. This unique and controversial book will appeal to judges, defamation law practitioners and scholars in various common law jurisdictions, media outlets, academics engaged in researching and teaching torts and media law, as well as those working within the disciplines of media or communications studies and psychology. Anyone concerned with the law's interaction with public opinion, as well as how people interpret the media will find much to interest them in this fascinating study.

Defamation Law in Australia commences with a colourful historical analysis of defamation action in England and Australia, before providing an in-depth commentary on the general underlying law, principles and concepts. Following the introduction of the Defamation Act 2005 (Cth), defamation law is substantially uniform in Australia. The provisions of the Defamation Act are identified and explained, and important topics such as reputation and freedom of speech are explored. This updated edition has been revised to reflect changes in legislation and case law, including an analysis of major decisions relating to publication on the internet, defences of truth and contextual truth, and awards of damages. It addresses developments in invasion of privacy law in Australia and explores topical issues such as disclosure of confidential sources and reform of the Defamation Act after more than 10 years operation. The Defamation Act is fully reproduced as an Appendix, together with a Comparative Table of Defamation Statutes, contrasting previous legislation in each State and Territory with the uniform Act. Features A practical, easy to read and engaging style Commentary on basic concepts - reputation, privacy and freedom of speech Historical anaylsis of defamation law Appendix includes the Defamation Act and a comparative table of Defamation Statutes Related Titles Balkin and Davis, Law of Torts, 5th edition, 2013 George et al, Social Media and the Law, 2nd edition, 2016 George, Quick Reference Card, Defamation, 2015 Lockhart, The Law of Misleading or Deceptive Conduct, 4th edition, 2014 Pearce and Geddes, Statutory Interpretation in Australia, 8th edition, 2014

This report deals with two important, but competing, interests: on the one hand individual honour, reputation and dignity, on the other hand freedom of expression and access to information on public affairs. In Australia the balance between these two interests is struck principally by State and Territorial defamation laws. These are partly contained in statutes, and partly in judge-made rules of common law. The laws are complex and conflict from one part of the country to another. The present report proposes a new law dealing with defamation and the infringement of privacy by publication: an 'unfair publication' law.