NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA
PRINTERS AND NEWSPAPERS ACT 1984
As in force at 14 October 2015
Table of provisions
Part I Preliminary
1 Short title ......................................................................................... 1
2 Repeal ............................................................................................. 1
3 Definitions ........................................................................................ 1
Part II Printing of papers and newspapers
4 Printer's name to be printed on each published paper..................... 3
5 Printer to keep record of employer's name and address ................. 3
6 Names of printer and publisher to be printed on newspapers.......... 3
Part III Miscellaneous
7 Name printed prima facie evidence ................................................. 4
8 Discovery in cases of libel in newspapers ....................................... 4
9 Delivering unauthorized papers, &c. ................................................ 5
10 Criminal liability of executive officer of body corporate .................... 5
11 Exemptions ...................................................................................... 6
12 Proceedings to be instituted by authorized person only .................. 6
Part IV Transitional matters for Statute Law
Amendment (Directors' Liability) Act 2015
13 Offences – before and after commencement................................... 7
Schedule Acts repealed
ENDNOTES
NORTHERN TERRITORY OF AUSTRALIA
As in force at 14 October 2015
PRINTERS AND NEWSPAPERS ACT 1984
An Act relating to printers and newspapers
Part I Preliminary
1 Short title
This Act may be cited as the Printers and Newspapers Act 1984.
2 Repeal
The Acts specified in the Schedule are repealed.
3 Definitions
In this Act, unless the contrary intention appears:
duplicating machine does not include an offset duplicating
machine.
newspaper means a paper:
(a) that contains public news, reports of occurrences or remarks
or observations on public news, occurrences or political
matters; and
(b) that is printed for sale or gratuitous distribution and published
periodically or in parts or numbers at intervals not exceeding
36 days between each publication,
but does not include a paper that is printed or published by the
authority of a department or statutory corporation.
paper includes a book, periodical, pamphlet, handbill, sheet of
letterpress and paper of any description, but does not include:
(a) a paper that is printed or published by the Government Printer
in the course of his duty;
(b) a paper containing matter of a commercial nature only;
Part I Preliminary
Printers and Newspapers Act 1984 2
(c) a paper containing only an impression from an engraving not
intended for publication;
(d) a paper relating to the sale of property by auction or
otherwise;
(e) a banknote, bill of exchange or promissory note;
(f) a bond or other security for the payment of money;
(g) a bill of lading, policy of insurance, letter or power of attorney,
deed or agreement;
(h) a receipt for money or goods;
(j) a paper used in proceedings in a court, including a writ,
summons, complaint, plaint and warrant; or
(k) a paper declared by the Minister, by notice in the Gazette, not
to be a paper for the purposes of this Act.
printer, in relation to a newspaper, means the person having the
management and control of a printing press by which the
newspaper is printed.
printing includes representing or reproducing in a paper words,
symbols or pictures in visible form.
printing press means a machine or contrivance with which a
newspaper is printed, and includes types, blocks, plates, stencils
and lithographic stones, if any, that are used with the machine or
contrivance for the purpose of printing, but does not include:
(a) a machine or contrivance that is the property of the Territory;
or
(b) a duplicating machine.
proprietor, in relation to a newspaper, means the person having
the management or control of the newspaper.
publisher, in relation to a newspaper, means the proprietor or other
person who arranges for the distribution of the newspaper from the
place where it is printed.
Part II Printing of papers and newspapers
Printers and Newspapers Act 1984 3
Part II Printing of papers and newspapers
4 Printer's name to be printed on each published paper
(1) A person who prints for publication or dispersal, whether
gratuitously or for money, a paper other than a newspaper, shall
cause his name, preceded by the words "Printed by", and followed
by the word "at" and the address at which the paper is printed by
him, to be printed in legible characters upon the front of that paper
or, where that paper has more than one page, upon the first or last
page of that paper.
Maximum penalty: 1.7 penalty units.
(2) Where a paper other than a newspaper is printed by a body
corporate, the name of the body corporate, or some abbreviation of
it, and the name of the person in charge of its printing business,
and the address at which the business is carried on, shall be
substituted for the particulars required to be printed under
subsection (1) and, apart from the substitutions specified in this
subsection, that subsection shall apply accordingly.
Maximum penalty: 1.7 penalty units.
5 Printer to keep record of employer's name and address
A person who prints for or in the expectation of hire, gain or profit a
paper other than a newspaper, shall keep not less than one copy of
the paper for a period of not less than 6 months after it has been
printed and shall, as soon as practicable after it has been printed,
print or write on the copy the name and address of the person on
whose behalf that paper was printed.
Maximum penalty: 1.7 penalty units.
6 Names of printer and publisher to be printed on newspapers
The printer of a newspaper shall, at the time of the printing:
(a) cause his name or, where he carries on business under a
name registered under the Business Names Registration
Act 2011 (Cth), that name, preceded by the words "Printed
by", and followed by the word "at" and the address at which
the paper is printed by him; and
(b) the name of the publisher of the newspaper, preceded by the
words "Published by", and followed by the word "of" and the
address of the publisher,
Part III Miscellaneous
Printers and Newspapers Act 1984 4
to be printed in legible characters upon the front of that newspaper
or, where that newspaper has more than one page, upon the first or
last page of that newspaper.
Maximum penalty: 1.7 penalty units.
Part III Miscellaneous
7 Name printed prima facie evidence
A paper on which is printed a name purporting to be the name of:
(a) the printer of the paper;
(b) where the paper is a paper other than a newspaper – the
person for whom or on whose instructions the paper was
printed; or
(c) where the paper is a newspaper – the publisher of the
newspaper,
shall be received by all courts and tribunals in any proceedings,
whether criminal or civil, as prima facie evidence that the person
whose name is so printed is:
(d) the printer of the paper;
(e) the person for whom or on whose instructions the paper was
printed; or
(f) the publisher of the newspaper,
as the case may be.
8 Discovery in cases of libel in newspapers
Where a person commences an action in a court for the discovery
of the name of a person concerned in a newspaper as printer,
publisher or otherwise, or a matter relating to the printing or
publishing of the newspaper, in order to enable him the more
effectively to bring or carry on an action for damages by him alleged
to have been sustained by reason of a libellous matter concerning
him contained in the newspaper, the defendant shall not be
permitted to plead or demur to the claim, but shall be compellable
to make the discovery required, but such discovery shall not be
used for a purpose in a proceeding other than that in which the
discovery is made.
Part III Miscellaneous
Printers and Newspapers Act 1984 5
9 Delivering unauthorized papers, &c.
A person shall not sell, offer for sale, gratuitously deliver, offer so to
deliver, leave in a public place, or otherwise expose to public view a
paper other than a newspaper upon which the name and address at
which the business is carried on of the printer is not printed as
required by section 4, or upon which a fictitious or false name or
address at which the business is carried on is printed.
Maximum penalty: 1.7 penalty units.
10 Criminal liability of executive officer of body corporate
(1) An executive officer of a body corporate commits an offence if the
body corporate commits an offence by contravening a declared
provision (a relevant offence).
Maximum penalty: The maximum penalty that may be imposed
on an individual for the relevant offence.
(2) An offence against subsection (1) is a regulatory offence.
(3) It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence against
subsection (1) if the defendant:
(a) was not in a position to influence the conduct of the body
corporate in relation to the contravention; or
(b) took reasonable steps to prevent the contravention; or
(c) did not know, and could not reasonably have been expected
to know, that the contravention would happen.
(4) In deciding whether the defendant took (or failed to take)
reasonable steps to prevent the contravention, a court must
consider the following:
(a) any action the defendant took directed towards ensuring the
following (to the extent the action is relevant to the
contravention):
(i) the body corporate arranged regular professional
assessments of the body corporate's compliance with
the declared provision;
(ii) the body corporate implemented any appropriate
recommendation arising from an assessment under
subparagraph (i);
Part III Miscellaneous
Printers and Newspapers Act 1984 6
(iii) the body corporate's employees, agents and contractors
had a reasonable knowledge and understanding of the
requirement to comply with the declared provision;
(b) any action the defendant took when the defendant became
aware that the contravention was, or could be, about to
happen.
(5) Subsection (4) does not limit the matters the court may consider.
(6) This section does not affect the liability of the body corporate.
(7) This section applies whether or not the body corporate is
prosecuted for, or found guilty of, the relevant offence.
(8) This section does not apply if the body corporate would have a
defence to a prosecution for the relevant offence.
(9) In this section:
declared provision means:
(a) section 4(1) or (2); or
(b) a provision of the Regulations prescribed by regulation.
executive officer, of a body corporate, means a director or other
person who is concerned with, or takes part in, the management of
the body corporate.
11 Exemptions
(1) The Minister may, by notice in the Gazette, upon such terms and
conditions as he thinks fit, exempt, for such period, if any, as is
specified in the notice, a paper or class of paper from a requirement
of this Act specified in the notice, and a paper or class of paper the
subject of the exemption shall, accordingly, be exempt from that
requirement.
(2) A paper or class of paper the subject of an exemption under
subsection (1) shall comply with the terms and conditions, if any,
specified in the notice, upon which the exemption was granted.
Maximum penalty: 1.7 penalty units.
12 Proceedings to be instituted by authorized person only
(1) The Minister may, by instrument in writing, authorize a person to
institute proceedings for an offence against this Act.
Part IV Transitional matters for Statute Law Amendment (Directors' Liability) Act 2015
Printers and Newspapers Act 1984 7
(2) Proceedings for an offence against this Act shall not be instituted by
a person other than a person who has been authorized under
subsection (1) for that purpose.
(3) In proceedings for an offence against this Act, an instrument
purporting to be signed by the Minister authorizing under
subsection (1) the person named in the instrument to institute
proceedings for an offence against this Act shall be prima facie
evidence that the person so named is so authorized.
Part IV Transitional matters for Statute Law
Amendment (Directors' Liability) Act 2015
13 Offences – before and after commencement
(1) Section 10, as inserted by the Statute Law Amendment (Directors'
Liability) Act 2015, (the new section) applies in relation to a
relevant offence committed by a body corporate after the
commencement of Part 2, Division 30 of that Act (the
commencement) only if:
(a) all the conduct constituting the relevant offence occurred after
the commencement; and
(b) all the conduct of the executive officer constituting the offence
against the new section occurred after the commencement.
(2) Section 10, as in force before the commencement:
(a) continues to apply in relation to offences committed by a body
corporate before the commencement; and
(b) applies in relation to relevant offences committed by a body
corporate after the commencement to which, as a result of
subsection (1), the new section does not apply.
Schedule Acts repealed
Printers and Newspapers Act 1984 8
Schedule Acts repealed
section 2
Number and year Short title
No. 30, 1928 Printers and Newspapers Ordinance 1928
No. 7, 1929 Printers and Newspapers Ordinance 1929
No. 16, 1934 Printers and Newspapers Ordinance 1934
ENDNOTES
Printers and Newspapers Act 1984 9
ENDNOTES
1 KEY
Key to abbreviations
amd = amended od = order
app = appendix om = omitted
bl = by-law pt = Part
ch = Chapter r = regulation/rule
cl = clause rem = remainder
div = Division renum = renumbered
exp = expires/expired rep = repealed
f = forms s = section
Gaz = Gazette sch = Schedule
hdg = heading sdiv = Subdivision
ins = inserted SL = Subordinate Legislation
lt = long title sub = substituted
nc = not commenced
2 LIST OF LEGISLATION
Printers and Newspapers Act 1984 (Act No. 41, 1984)
Assent date 25 September 1984
Commenced 25 September 1984
Justice Legislation Amendment (Penalties) Act 2010 (Act No. 12, 2010)
Assent date 20 May 2010
Commenced 1 July 2010 (Gaz G24, 16 June 2010, p 2)
Business Names (National Uniform Legislation) Implementation Act 2012 (Act No. 8,
2012)
Assent date 27 April 2012
Commenced pts 3 and 4: 28 May 2012 (Cth proclamation F2012L00891:
19 April 2012) ; rem: 27 April 2012 (s 2)
Statute Law Amendment (Directors' Liability) Act 2015 (Act No. 26, 2015)
Assent date 18 September 2015
Commenced 14 October 2015 (Gaz G41, 14 October 2015, p 3)
3 GENERAL AMENDMENTS
General amendments of a formal nature (which are not referred to in the table
of amendments to this reprint) are made by the Interpretation Legislation
Amendment Act 2018 (Act No. 22, 2018) to: s 1.
4 LIST OF AMENDMENTS
ss 4 – 5 amd No. 12, 2010, s 3
s 6 amd No. 12, 2010, s 3; No. 8, 2012, s 30
s 9 amd No. 12, 2010, s 3
s 10 sub No. 26, 2015, s 95
s 11 amd No. 12, 2010, s 3
pt IV hdg ins No. 26, 2015, s 96
s 13 ins No. 26, 2015, s 96