WHAT IS DEFAMATION?
Defamation is a ‘tort’. It is a basis to sue someone in court, and focuses on damage to reputation
If someone has said or written something nasty about you, you may have been ‘defamed’.
In Australia, the word ‘defamation’ covers both oral defamation (slander) and written defamation (libel).
A person has a basis to sue in defamation if the following elements are satisfied:
Publication
The ‘matter’ needs to have been seen by at least one person other than the publisher (the defendant) and the aggrieved person (the plaintiff). These days, publication often happens on the internet
Identification
The publication needs to be ‘about’ the aggrieved person. Would an ordinary, reasonable person understand it the publication to be about them?
‘Defamatory’
Obviously, defamation requires the publication to be defamatory. Roughly speaking, matter is ‘defamatory’ if it would tend to damage a person’s reputation in the eyes of an ordinary, reasonable person
Serious harm
Unless the publication causes or is likely to cause serious reputational harm, the publication cannot be sued upon. Hurt feelings are not enough. This element does not apply under the laws of WA and the NT
More defamation law resources here
Responding to defamation
If you have been defamed, consider sending the publisher a ‘concerns notice’
A concerns notice is a letter that has legal effect under the defamation legislation of the Australian States and Territories. It sets out what the aggrieved person is ‘concerned’ about.
AUS DEFAMATION LAW 