New South Wales Consolidated Acts

DEFAMATION ACT 2005 - SECT 30

30 Defence of qualified privilege for provision of certain information

(1) There is a defence of qualified privilege for the publication of defamatory matter to a person (the
"recipient" ) if the defendant proves that--

(a) the recipient has an interest or apparent interest in having information on some subject, and

(b) the matter is published to the recipient in the course of giving to the recipient information on that subject, and

(c) the conduct of the defendant in publishing that matter is reasonable in the circumstances.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), a recipient has an apparent interest in having information on some subject if, and only if, at the time of the publication in question, the defendant believes on reasonable grounds that the recipient has that interest.

(3) In determining for the purposes of subsection (1) whether the conduct of the defendant in publishing matter about a person is reasonable in the circumstances, a court may take into account the following factors to the extent the court considers them applicable in the circumstances--

(a) the seriousness of any defamatory imputation carried by the matter published,

(b) the extent to which the matter published distinguishes between suspicions, allegations and proven facts,

(c) the nature of the business environment in which the defendant operates,

(d) whether it was appropriate in the circumstances for the matter to be published expeditiously,

(e) any other steps taken to verify the information in the matter published.

(3A) Subsection (3) does not--

(a) require each factor referred to in the subsection to be taken into account, or

(b) limit the matters that the court may take into account.

(3B) It is not necessary to prove that the matter published concerned an issue of public interest to establish the defence of qualified privilege under subsection (1).

(4) For the avoidance of doubt, a defence of qualified privilege under subsection (1) is defeated if the plaintiff proves that the publication of the defamatory matter was actuated by malice.

(5) However, a defence of qualified privilege under subsection (1) is not defeated merely because the defamatory matter was published for reward.

(6) Without affecting the application of section 22 to other defences, the jury (and not the judicial officer) in defamation proceedings tried by jury is to determine whether a defence under this section is established.