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NSW A-G leads defamation reforms to govern free speech
The Law Society of NSW has congratulated Attorney-General Mark Speakman on the commitment to overhauling Australia’s stale defamation laws.
Naomi Neilson
NSW Attorney-General Mr Speakman, who led the defamation reforms process, will unite state and territory counterparts in making amendments to the Model Defamation Provisions, now over 15 years old and missing components relating to social media.
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The Law Society of NSW’s president Richard Harvey welcomed the planned changes, agreed upon at the Council of Attorneys-General (CAG) meeting. Mr Harvey explained the Law Society had made a lengthy submission and was looking forward to reforms.
Mr Harvey said it is important that defamation laws in each state and territory reflect a “significant development in digital communication” that has taken place since 2005.
“At the time they were introduced no one could have foreseen the way the digital media would revolutionise the way we communicate. Back then, Facebook’s network had not extended beyond educational institutions and Twitter and Instagram did not exist,” he said.
Fifteen years after the Model Defamation Provisions were introduced, 2.6 billion users are actively on Facebook and there are around 500 million Tweets sent out everyday – meaning courts are increasingly dealing with litigation over social media posts.
“It is vital we have defamation laws that both reflect the developments in digital and in social communication and strike the right balance between the right of individuals that protects their reputations and freedom of speech,” Mr Harvey said.
Mr Speakman said the laws will be enacted as soon as possible and will represent the “generational change” in the way reputations are protected while supporting the media to subject the powerful to responsible scrutiny – but there is still more work to be done.
Among the proposed reforms is a plan to reduce the likelihood of massive payouts by clarifying caps on damages for non-economic loss and to protect journalism with new public interest defences, based on the UK protections. The A-Gs also intend to protect the courts’ backlog by requiring plaintiffs to issue a concerns notice.
“Social media has resulted in an explosion of minor cases over minor personal slights, clogging courts with costly litigation out of all proportion to the actual complaint. These reforms will bring defamation laws into the modern era, improving the balance between protecting reputations and free speech,” Mr Speakman said.
