Celebrities and royals helped shape UK privacy law. New laws will allow Australians to sue over serious privacy invasions, but with major differences.
Australians will be able to sue for damages for privacy invasion under laws unveiled by the federal government, but experts say a major exemption for journalists may block the kinds of privacy suits fought overseas by celebrities and royals.in federal parliament on Thursday that includes a new tort, or civil action, for serious invasions of privacy. If passed, it is expected to trigger a flurry of litigation.
What constitutes “journalistic material” is likely to emerge as a key battleground in cases against media companies. It is defined as having “the character of news, current affairs or a documentary” and includes commentary, opinion and analysis of that material.
McDonald said businesses examining people’s private lives, such as private detective agencies, may fall foul of the laws “unless they can persuade a court that their invasive behaviour is justified in some public interest, such as preventing fraud”. There is a major exemption for journalists involved in the “collection, preparation for publication or publication of journalistic material”, meaning “news, current affairs or a documentary”. This includes commentary, opinion and analysis.
He said the government appeared to be “scared of copping criticism from right-wing media companies” and the legislation was “gutless”.Minter Ellison senior associate Dean Levitan predicted there would be “a lot of test cases”, including about what constituted a serious invasion of privacy, what is considered in the public interest, and who is a journalist.
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