289Protection from defamation action

289 Protection from defamation action (1) Without limiting section 288, in a proceeding for defamation, a complainant has a defence of absolute privilege for publishing the information in the complaint. (2) However, this defence is not available if the complainant publishes the information before the information is published under this Act by the commission or the inspector. (3) For this section, the complainant has not published the information if the complainant disclosed the information under the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2012 in the reasonable belief that the information was about disclosable conduct.

Part 7.2 Protection for people who report corruption disclosable conduct—see the Public Interest Disclosure Act 2012,