Australian Capital Territory Current Acts Australian Capital Territory Current Acts(1) A person shall not make or publish, or authorise to be made or published, a false and defamatory statement about the personal character or conduct of a candidate.
Maximum penalty: 50 penalty units, imprisonment for 6 months or both.
(2) It is a defence to a prosecution for an offence against subsection (1) if it is established that the defendant believed on reasonable grounds that the relevant statement was true.
(3) A person who makes a false and defamatory statement in relation to the personal character or conduct of a candidate in contravention of this section may, at the suit of the candidate, be restrained by injunction from repeating the statement or any similar false and defamatory statement.