FCA Briefing with David Rolph, defamation law professor
FIRST IN-PERSON FCA EVENT SINCE COVID
Words April Pressel, Photographs Raj Suri
On Monday 9 May 2022, members were treated to a very valuable in-person exclusive FCA Q&A session with a top Australian media defamation law expert.
University of Sydney Law Faculty Professor David Rolph answered members’ questions on a range of defamation law issues, such as how media rules affect foreign correspondents, the importance of ‘fair reason’ and public interest, and how difficult it is in Australia to sue for defamations. Correspondents learned how, in Australia, for-profits corporations with 10 or more full-time employees cannot sue for defamation. Also, the onus is definitely on plaintiffs to prove serious harm caused by media defamation to reputations, should anyone decide to sue. Professor Rolph included mention of other issues, such as how live streaming and screen shots cannot be recorded by/for media reporting, and how media laws and rules differ between Australian states and territories.
