A Ministerial Briefing prepared by departmental employees in response to a request from a Minister's office, containing defamatory imputations about an employee's immigration history and workplace conduct, is protected by both statutory qualified privilege under s 27 of the Defamation Act 2006 (NT) and common law qualified privilege where the Minister has a legitimate interest in the information, the publication is made in the course of providing that information, and the conduct of publication is reasonable in the circumstances. Findings in prior adverse action proceedings under the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) as to the genuineness or reasonableness of an employer's belief do not give rise to issue estoppel in subsequent defamation proceedings because the issues are not identical and the findings are evidentiary rather than ultimate facts.
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