New South Wales Consolidated Regulations

UNIFORM CIVIL PROCEDURE RULES 2005 - REG 14.36

14.36 Defences of fair report of proceedings of public concern

(1) Defences under Defamation Act 1974 A defence under section 24 of the Defamation Act 1974 is sufficiently pleaded if it alleges that--

(a) the matter complained of was a fair protected report, or

(b) the matter complained of was a later publication by the defendant of--

(i) a protected report or a copy of the protected report, or a fair extract or fair abstract from, or fair summary of, a protected report that was previously published by another person, or

(ii) material purporting to be a protected report or a copy of a protected report, or of a fair extract or fair abstract from, or fair summary of, material purporting to be a protected report that was previously published by another person,

and the defendant did not have knowledge that should have made the defendant aware that the protected report is not fair or the material purporting to be a protected report was not a protected report or is not fair.

(2) Defences under Defamation Act 2005 A defence under section 29 of the Defamation Act 2005 is sufficiently pleaded if it alleges that--

(a) the matter complained of was, or was contained in, a fair report of any proceedings of public concern, or

(b) the matter complained of--

(i) was, or was contained in, an earlier published report of proceedings of public concern, and

(ii) was, or was contained in, a fair copy of, a fair summary of, or a fair extract from, the earlier published report,

and the defendant had no knowledge that would reasonably make the defendant aware that the earlier published report was not fair.