Not perfect, but the next round of reforms is welcomed by Justice Peter Applegarth from the Supreme Court of Queensland ... Liability of internet intermediaries for defamation ... Moderation ... Innocent dissemination comes into its own ... Trumpist laws in the USA provide no incentive to moderate harmful online content ... Richard Ackland reports ... more
Category: Seminars, interviews & commentary
New whistleblower legal service launched
Launch of The Whistleblower Project ... First dedicated, specialist pro bono legal service for whistleblowers ... Under the auspices of Human Rights Legal Centre ... Research shows eight in ten whistleblowers suffer detriment ... Only one case of compensation for detriment ...Speakers at launch event ... Courts Editor Stephen Murray reports ... more
Media-law jamboree at Cambridge
Through UK, US and Australian lenses ... Defamation, privacy, political communication, press freedom, social media, data protection, contempt ... Top drawer speakers from the media-law world ... Practitioners and academics ... Floyd Alexander-Hunt reports ... more
Freedom from information
FOI - stuck in the 1980s ... A senate inquiry gets to work on the outdated FOI Act ... Worthwhile submissions examined ... Unacceptable delays ... Departmental obstruction ... Access to cabinet documents ... Insights from the Robodebt Royal Commission ... Word ahead ... Report from Peter Timmins ... more
Revamping whistleblower protections
New whistleblower amendments an important first step ... Protections for public interest whistleblowing need to be extended to all sectors ... Handling personal workplace grievances ... Integrity and anti-corruption reform on the march ... Stronger press freedoms wait in the wings ... Professor A J Brown comments ... more
The defamation trial of the century
From behind the lines in the Roberts-Smith case ... MinterEllison's Peter Bartlett surveys the litigation from the perspective of his media clients ... To sue was a terrible error ... Getting witnesses into the box ... Seven v Nine ... Complexity created by national security ... The role of Covid ... PR onslaught ... Appeal prospects ... more
Eve Thomson’s She Too
Eve Thomson is a litigation partner at Johnson Winter Slattery ... Her first novel, She Too, was published earlier this year ... A fictional defamation drama ... Interview with GLJ about inspirations, character, reality and writing ... Finding the truth amid the manipulation ... more
Richard Walsh
Richard Walsh's life in media and publishing ... TV copywriting, Consolidated Press, OZ, Mavis Bramston, Nation Review, books and journalism ... Satire and investigations ... From medicine to earning a crust ... The shape of the media to come ... An interview with the GLJ ... more
Michael McHugh’s Defamation Casebook
Former High Court justice Michael McHugh reflects on career in defamation law ... Potential for public interest defence to expand freedom of expression ... Regret at not making late amendment to Lange judgment ... Role of juries in damages and reasonableness ... Discussion with Justice Applegarth ... Courts Editor Stephen Murray reports ... more
Rolph’s Contempt
Forthcoming book on Contempt by Professor David Rolph ... Q and A with GLJ ... Contempt in all its forms ... Securing public confidence in the administration of justice ... Greater procedural fairness ... Problems with penalties ... Need for a statutory footing ... The internet, the media and porous borders ... more
OpenAI’s liability for ChatGPT’s defamation
Liability for defamatory content produced by ChatGPT ... The role of OpenAI ... Cross-border dimension ... Defences ... Australian law distinguished ... Enforcement of defamation judgment ... Compliance and complications ... Analysis by Dr Michael Douglas ... more
Patrick George
Patrick George joins Rebekah Giles ... Interview ... Changes in defamation law over 18 years ... Removal of the cap on damages has been a "game changer" ... High profile cases ... Quest for the holy grail of qualified privilege ... Fault lines of defamation law ... The overarching issue ... more