139Defences of fair report of proceedings of public concern

139 Defences of fair report of proceedings of public concern proves that the matter was, or was contained in, a fair report of any proceedings of public concern. (2) It is a defence to the publication of defamatory matter if the defendant (a) the matter was, or was contained in, an earlier published report of proceedings of public concern; and (b) the matter was, or was contained in, a fair copy of, a fair summary of, or a fair extract from, the earlier published report; and (c) the defendant had no knowledge that would reasonably make the defendant aware that the earlier published report was not fair. (3) A defence established under subsection (1) or (2) is defeated if, and only if, the plaintiff proves that the defamatory matter was not published honestly for the information of the public or the advancement of education. proceedings of public concern means— (a) any proceedings in public of a parliamentary body; or (b) any proceedings in public of an international organisation of any countries or of the governments of any countries; or (c) any proceedings in public of an international conference at which the governments of any countries are represented; or (d) any proceedings in public of— (i) the International Court of Justice, or any other judicial or arbitral tribunal, for the decision of any matter in dispute between nations; or (ii) any other international judicial or arbitral tribunal; or (e) any proceedings in public of a court or arbitral tribunal of any country; or (f) any proceedings in public of an inquiry held under the law of any country or under the authority of the government of any country; or (g) any proceedings in public of a local government body of any Australian jurisdiction; or (h) proceedings of a learned society, or of a committee or governing body of the society, under its relevant objects, but only to the extent that the proceedings relate to a decision or adjudication made in Australia about— (i) a member or members of the society; or by the society; or (i) proceedings of a sport or recreation association, or of a committee or governing body of the association, under its relevant objects, but only to the extent that the proceedings relate to a decision or adjudication made in Australia about— (i) a member or members of the association; or by the association; or (j) proceedings of a trade association, or of a committee or governing body of the association, under its relevant objects, but only to the extent that the proceedings relate to a decision or adjudication made in Australia about— (i) a member or members of the association; or by the association; or (k) any proceedings of a public meeting (with or without restriction on the people attending) of shareholders of a public company under the Corporations Act held anywhere in Australia; or Note Corporations Act is defined in the Legislation Act, dict, pt 1. (l) any proceedings of a public meeting (with or without restriction on the people attending) held anywhere in Australia if the proceedings relate to a matter of public interest, including the advocacy or candidature of a person for public office; or (m) any proceedings of an ombudsman of any country if the proceedings relate to a report of the ombudsman; or (n) any proceedings in public of a law reform body of any country; or (o) any other proceedings conducted by, or proceedings of, a person, body or organisation of another Australian jurisdiction that are treated in that jurisdiction as proceedings of public concern under a provision of a law of the jurisdiction corresponding to this section. law reform body, of a country, means a body (however described and whether or not permanent or full-time) established by law to conduct inquiries into, and to make recommendations on, reforming the laws of that country. learned society means a body, wherever formed— (a) the objects of which include the advancement of any art, science or religion or the advancement of learning in any field; and connected with those objects; and ombudsman, of a country, means a person (however described and whether or not permanent or full-time) authorised by law to investigate complaints about the actions or other conduct of any public officials or public bodies of that country. relevant objects, of a learned society, sport or recreation association or trade association, means— (a) in relation to a learned society—objects of the kind referred to in this subsection, definition of learned society, paragraph (a); or (b) in relation to a sport or recreation association—objects of the kind referred to in this subsection, definition of sport or recreation association, paragraph (a); or (c) in relation to a trade association—objects of the kind referred to in this subsection, definition of trade association, paragraph (a). sport or recreation association means a body, wherever formed— (a) the objects of which include the promotion of any game, sport, or pastime to the playing of which or exercise of which the public is admitted as spectators or otherwise and the promotion or protection of the interests of people connected with the game, sport, or pastime; and connected with the game, sport, or pastime; and trade association means a body, wherever formed— (a) the objects of which include the promotion of any calling, that is to say, a trade, business, industry or profession and the promotion or protection of the interests of people engaged in any calling; and connected with a calling or the conduct of people engaged in the calling; and 139AA Defence of publication of matter concerning issue of public interest (a) the matter concerns an issue of public interest; and (b) the defendant reasonably believed that the publication of the matter was in the public interest. (2) In determining whether the defence is established, a court must take into account all of the circumstances of the case. (3) Without limiting subsection (2), the court may take into account the following factors to the extent the court considers them applicable in the circumstances: (a) the seriousness of any defamatory imputation carried by the matter published; (b) the extent to which the matter published distinguishes between suspicions, allegations and proven facts; (c) the extent to which the matter published relates to the performance of the public functions or activities of the person; (d) whether it was in the public interest in the circumstances for the matter to be published expeditiously; (e) the sources of the information in the matter published, including the integrity of the sources; (f) if a source of the information in the matter published is a person whose identity is being kept confidential, whether there is good reason for the person’s identity to be kept confidential; Example—good reason to comply with an applicable professional code or standard (g) whether the matter published contained the substance of the person’s side of the story and, if not, whether a reasonable attempt was made by the defendant to obtain and publish a response from the person; (h) any other steps taken to verify the information in the matter published; (i) the importance of freedom of expression in the discussion of issues of public interest. (4) Subsection (3) does not— (a) require each factor mentioned in the subsection to be taken into account; or (b) limit the matters that the court may take into account.