The NSW Attorney General has released draft defamation law reforms for public consultation before the legislation goes before Parliament mid-next year.
Attorney General, Mark Speakman encouraged anyone interested in this area of law to have their say before 24 January 2020.
“These draft amendments are a major step towards modernising Australia’s defamation laws,” Mr Speakman said.
“Protecting responsible public interest journalism and addressing the growing volume of trivial matters proceeding to court,” he said.
“The draft amendment provisions were developed following a robust national consultation process that took place throughout 2019.”
Mr Speakman said the proposed reforms contained a new single publication rule, meaning the limitation period for bringing an action would commence from the date material was uploaded rather than restarting each time it was downloaded.
He said the reforms also included a serious harm threshold, defense of responsible publication on a matter of public interest and mandatory pre-litigation processes to encourage settlement of disputes out of court.
“The reforms will ensure defamation law does not place unreasonable limits on free speech.”
“[The reforms will] address the increasing number of frivolous defamation matters and modernise provisions to apply better to digital publications,” Mr Speakman said.
The 12-page draft amendment provisions as well as information on how to have your say can be accessed at this PS News link.
