Defamation Act 2005

to enact provisions to promote uniform laws of defamation in Australia;

to ensure that the law of defamation does not place unreasonable limits on freedom of expression and, in particular, on the publication and discussion of matters of public interest and importance;

to provide effective and fair remedies for persons whose reputations are harmed by the publication of defamatory matter; and

to promote speedy and non‑litigious methods of resolving disputes about the publication of defamatory matter.

a State;

a Territory; or

the Commonwealth;

a federation and a state, territory, province or other part of a federation; and

an Australian jurisdiction;

anything on which there is writing;

anything on which there are marks, figures, symbols or perforations having a meaning for persons qualified to interpret them;

anything from which sounds, images or writings can be reproduced with or without the aid of anything else; and

a map, plan, drawing or photograph;

an article, report, advertisement or other thing communicated by means of a newspaper, magazine or other periodical;

a program, report, advertisement or other thing communicated by means of television, radio, the Internet or any other form of electronic communication;

a letter, note or other writing;

a picture, gesture or oral utterance; and

any other thing by means of which something may be communicated to a person;

a parliament or legislature of any country;

a house of a parliament or legislature of any country;

a committee of a parliament or legislature of any country;

a committee of a house or houses of a parliament or legislature of any country;

This Act relates to the tort of defamation at general law.

This Act does not affect the operation of the general law in relation to the tort of defamation except to the extent that this Act provides otherwise (whether expressly or by necessary implication).

The distinction at general law between slander and libel is abolished.

Accordingly, the publication of defamatory matter of any kind is actionable without proof of special damage.

A corporation has no cause of action for defamation in relation to the publication of defamatory matter about the corporation unless it was an excluded corporation at the time of the publication.

A corporation is an excluded corporation if —

the objects for which it is formed do not include obtaining financial gain for its members or corporators; or

it employs fewer than 10 persons and is not related to another corporation,

In counting employees for the purposes of subsection (2)(b), part‑time employees are to be taken into account as an appropriate fraction of a full‑time equivalent.

In determining whether a corporation is related to another corporation for the purposes of subsection (2)(b), section 50 of the Corporations Act 2001 of the Commonwealth applies as if references to bodies corporate in that section were references to corporations within the meaning of this section.

Subsection (1) does not affect any cause of action for defamation that an individual associated with a corporation has in relation to the publication of defamatory matter about the individual even if the publication of the same matter also defames the corporation.

In this section —

the publication of defamatory matter about a deceased person (whether published before or after his or her death); or

the publication of defamatory matter by a person who has died since publishing the matter.

If a matter is published wholly within a particular Australian jurisdictional area, the substantive law that is applicable in that area must be applied in this jurisdiction to determine any cause of action for defamation based on the publication.

If there is a multiple publication of matter in more than one Australian jurisdictional area, the substantive law applicable in the Australian jurisdictional area with which the harm occasioned by the publication as a whole has its closest connection must be applied in this jurisdiction to determine each cause of action for defamation based on the publication.

In determining the Australian jurisdictional area with which the harm occasioned by a publication of matter has its closest connection, a court may take into account —

the place at the time of publication where the plaintiff was ordinarily resident or, in the case of a corporation that may assert a cause of action for defamation, the place where the corporation had its principal place of business at that time;

the extent of publication in each relevant Australian jurisdictional area;

the extent of harm sustained by the plaintiff in each relevant Australian jurisdictional area; and

any other matter that the court considers relevant.

For the purposes of this section, the substantive law applicable in an Australian jurisdictional area does not include any law prescribing rules for choice of law that differ from the rules prescribed by this section.

In this section —

the geographical area of Australia that lies within the territorial limits of a particular State (including its coastal waters), but not including any territory, place or other area referred to in paragraph (c);

the geographical area of Australia that lies within the territorial limits of a particular Territory (including its coastal waters), but not including any territory, place or other area referred to in paragraph (c); or

any territory, place or other geographical area of Australia over which the Commonwealth has legislative competence but over which no State or Territory has legislative competence;

the territorial sea of Australia; and

the external Territories of the Commonwealth;

This Division applies if a person (the publisher) publishes matter (the matter in question) that is, or may be, defamatory of another person (the aggrieved person).

The provisions of this Division may be used instead of the provisions of any rules of court or any other law in relation to payment into court or offers of compromise.

Nothing in this Division prevents a publisher or aggrieved person from making or accepting a settlement offer in relation to the publication of the matter in question otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of this Division.