Gazette

Sex tapes privacy case fails to get off the ground. The Victorian Court of Appeal affirms that there is no invasion of privacy tort in Australian law, but, following UK law, awards damages of $40,000 for mental distress in a claim for breach of confidence ... more

Britain’s High Court of Justice awards Max Mosley damages of £60,000 for News of the World invasion of privacy that alleged the son of wartime fascist leader Sir Oswald Mosley engaged in a “sick Nazi orgy”. Mr Justice Eady finds no public interest or justification in the paper’s clandestine filming and subsequent publication of Mosley’s S & M sessions ... more

Professor Michael Tilbury from the New South Wales Law Reform Commission builds his case for a statutory action in privacy ... more

The ABC has abandoned its appeal in the threshold privacy case Jane Doe v ABC. Peter Applegarth SC looks at where that leaves the tort of invasion of privacy in Australian law and what’s at stake if we follow the English courts ... more

The NSW Court of Appeal overturns Justice Henric Nicholas’ decision to strike out all of Fairfax’s defences over a Sun-Herald gossip column about Dick Pratt’s former mistress Shari-Lea Hitchcock. The court agrees her behaviour is, arguably, a matter of public interest ... more

The Nine Network wins public interest argument over the accidental disclosure of some confidential documents by Corrections Victoria. Victorian Supreme Court Justice Osborn stops short of allowing the broadcaster to publish the remaining documents ... more