A fair report of proceedings of public concern is also a defence [s 27]. This can include reports of parliamentary, judicial and government proceedings, the proceedings of learned societies, sport and recreation associations, trade associations and meetings of shareholders of an incorporated company. The defence may be defeated on proof by the plaintiff that the defamatory matter was not published honestly for the information of the public or the advancement of education.

Defence: Publication of matter concerning public interest

It is a defence to the publication of defamatory matter if the defendant can prove that the matter concerns an issue of public interest; and that they reasonably believed that the publication of the matter was in the public interest. In determining whether the defence is established, a court must take into account all of the circumstances of the case.

The Court may take into account any of the following relevant factors:

[s 27A]

This defence is intended to provide greater protection to 'responsible journalism'. It can apply to commercial media and any person communicating on public interest matters, so long as they can prove they had a reasonable belief that the publication was in the public interest in the circumstances.

Defence: Scientific or academic peer review

It is a defence to the publication of defamatory matter if the defendant can prove that the matter was published in a scientific or academic journal (including in electronic form) and relates to a scientific or academic issue, where an independent review takes place. The independent review of the matter's scientific or academic merit must be carried out before the matter was published in the journal by either the editor of the journal (if the editor has expertise in the scientific or academic issue concerned) or at least one person who has such expertise [s 28A(1)].

If the grounds above are made out, then there is also a defence to the publication of an assessment of the same matter if the defendant can prove that the assessment was written in the course of the review, and was written by at least one person who carried out the independent review [ s 28A(2)].

A further defence exists where a defendant proves that the matter was contained in a fair extract or summary extract from a matter or assessment for which there is a defence because of subsections 28A (1) or (2) above. If a journal has more than one editor, a reference in this section to the editor of the journal is to be read as a reference to the editor or editors who were responsible for deciding to publish the matter concerned [s 28A(4)]. A defence established under this section will only fail if the plaintiff proves that the defamatory matter or assessment was not published honestly for the information of the public or the advancement of education [ s 28A(5)].