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ARTICLE · 28 APRIL 2026

Fair Dealing: The Australian Context

Spruson & Ferguson Lawyers
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Australia's fair dealing doctrine operates under strict statutory limitations, confining copyright exceptions to specific purposes like research, criticism, and news reporting. Unlike the more flexible approaches in Canada and the US, Australian law requires uses to fit within predefined categories, with courts showing little appetite for expansion despite ongoing debates about AI and data mining.

AustraliaIntellectual Property
Katrina Crooks
Katrina Crooks
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“The fair dealing exception in Australia is limited to the purpose-based exceptions listed in the Copyright Act. If a use doesn’t fall within a listed purpose, fair dealing simply does not apply, regardless of fairness.”

Australia’s iteration of the “fair use” doctrine – called “fair dealing”- is, like its Canadian counterpart, a creature of statute.

“The fair dealing exception in Australia is limited to the purpose-based exceptions listed in the Copyright Act,” says Katrina Crooks, Principal and Head of Spruson & Ferguson Lawyers. “If a use doesn’t fall within a listed purpose, fair dealing simply does not apply, regardless of fairness.”

The exhaustive list includes research and study, criticism or review, parody or satire, news reporting, and legal advice.

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