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ARTICLE · 15 JULY 2022

Serious harm in defamation law

Bartier Perry Solicitors
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How do you measure the extent of harm to reputation and why is this important?

AustraliaLitigation, Mediation & Arbitration
Adam Cutri
Adam Cutri
David De Mestre
David De Mestre
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In the digital age, defamation suits are becoming regular stories in news cycles across the country. Defamation laws aim to:

  • protect individuals against harm to their reputation; and
  • provide redress by way of compensatory damages for harm done to reputation.

How do you measure the extent of harm to reputation and why is this important? We provide answers to this and related questions by discussing the "serious harm" element of defamation claims in recent legislative and case law developments.

Legislative reforms to the Defamation Act

Legislative reforms to the uniform Defamation Act 2005 (NSW) (Act) (which has counterparts in Victoria, Queensland, South Australia, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory) took effect on and from 1 July 2021 after the Defamation Amendment Bill 2020 was assented to on 11 August 2020. The reforms are aimed to prevent trivial or frivolous defamation claims, which can be prohibitively expensive for individuals

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