Defamation law reform - July 2004
Comments closed 31 October 2004
Defamation law in Australia is currently constituted by a patchwork of common law and State and Territory statutes. The ALRC concluded in its 1979 report, Unfair Publication: Defamation and Privacy, that significant changes were needed 'in the substantive law governing rights of action and defence'.
On 17 March 2004, the Attorney-General's Department released an outline of a possible national defamation law that could be enacted by the Commonwealth in reliance on its existing constitutional powers.
The Department has since prepared a revised outline (available below), which takes into account submissions received about the outline released in March. The revised outline includes exposure draft provisions covering important features of the proposal.
We seek your comments on this revised package for defamation law reform.
Revised outline of possible national defamation law -
- Revised outline of possible national defamation law - PDF 313KB
- Revised outline of possible national defamation law - HTML 160KB
Comments on the revised outline should be directed to the following address by 31 October 2004:
James Faulkner
Assistant Secretary
Attorney-General's Department
Robert Garran Offices
National Circuit
BARTON ACT 2600
