Western Australian Current Acts

DEFAMATION ACT 2005 - SECT 4

4 .         Terms used in this Act

                In this Act —

        Australian court means any court established by or under a law of an Australian jurisdiction (including a court conducting committal proceedings for an indictable offence);

        Australian jurisdiction means —

            (a)         a State;

            (b)         a Territory; or

            (c)         the Commonwealth;

        Australian tribunal means any tribunal (other than a court) established by or under a law of an Australian jurisdiction that has the power to take evidence from witnesses before it on oath or affirmation (including a Royal Commission or other special commission of inquiry);

        country includes —

            (a)         a federation and a state, territory, province or other part of a federation; and

            (b)         an Australian jurisdiction;

        document means any record of information, and includes —

            (a)         anything on which there is writing;

            (b)         anything on which there are marks, figures, symbols or perforations having a meaning for persons qualified to interpret them;

            (c)         anything from which sounds, images or writings can be reproduced with or without the aid of anything else; and

            (d)         a map, plan, drawing or photograph;

        electronic communication includes a communication of information in the form of data, text, images or sound (or any combination of these) by means of guided or unguided electromagnetic energy, or both;

        general law means the common law and equity;

        matter includes —

            (a)         an article, report, advertisement or other thing communicated by means of a newspaper, magazine or other periodical;

            (b)         a program, report, advertisement or other thing communicated by means of television, radio, the Internet or any other form of electronic communication;

            (c)         a letter, note or other writing;

            (d)         a picture, gesture or oral utterance; and

            (e)         any other thing by means of which something may be communicated to a person;

        offer to make amends means an offer to make amends under Part 3 Division 1;

        parliamentary body means —

            (a)         a parliament or legislature of any country;

            (b)         a house of a parliament or legislature of any country;

            (c)         a committee of a parliament or legislature of any country;

            (d)         a committee of a house or houses of a parliament or legislature of any country;

        substantially true means true in substance or not materially different from the truth;

        Territory means the Australian Capital Territory or the Northern Territory;

        this jurisdiction means Western Australia.