Western Australian Current Acts Western Australian Current Acts (1) A person commits a
crime if the person publishes in a newspaper or periodical publication or by
radio broadcast, television or other electronic means, or otherwise
disseminates to the public or to a section of the public by any means, any
account of any proceedings, or of any part of any proceedings, under this Act
that identifies —
(a) a
party to the proceedings; or
(b) a
person who is related to, or associated with, a party to the proceedings or
is, or is alleged to be, in any other way concerned in the matter to which the
proceedings relate; or
(c) a
witness in the proceedings.
Penalty for this subsection:
(a) for
an individual, imprisonment for 12 months and a fine of $5 500;
(b) for
a body corporate, a fine of $11 000.
Summary conviction penalty for this subsection:
(a) for
an individual, a fine of $2 750;
(b) for
a body corporate, a fine of $5 500.
(2) A person commits a
crime if the person, except as permitted by the rules, publishes in a
newspaper or periodical publication or by radio broadcast, television or other
electronic means, or otherwise disseminates to the public or to a section of
the public by any means (otherwise than by the display of a notice in the
premises of a court), a list of proceedings under this Act, identified by
reference to the names of the parties to the proceedings, that are to be dealt
with by the court.
Penalty for this subsection:
(a) for
an individual, imprisonment for 12 months and a fine of $5 500;
(b) for
a body corporate, a fine of $11 000.
Summary conviction penalty for this subsection:
(a) for
an individual, a fine of $2 750;
(b) for
a body corporate, a fine of $5 500.
(3) Without limiting
the generality of subsection (1), an account of proceedings, or of any part of
proceedings, referred to in that subsection is to be treated as identifying a
person if —
(a) it
contains any particulars of —
(i)
the name, title, pseudonym or alias of the person; or
(ii)
the address of any premises at which the person resides
or works, or the locality in which any such premises are situated; or
(iii)
the physical description or the style of dress of the
person; or
(iv)
any employment or occupation engaged in, profession
practised or calling pursued, by the person or any official or honorary
position held by the person; or
(v)
the relationship of the person to identified relatives of
the person or the association of the person with identified friends or
identified business, official or professional acquaintances of the person; or
(vi)
the recreational interests, or the political,
philosophical or religious beliefs or interests, of the person; or
(vii)
any real or personal property in which the person has an
interest or with which the person is otherwise associated,
being particulars that
are sufficient to identify that person to a member of the public, or to a
member of the section of the public to which the account is disseminated, as
the case requires; or
(b) in
the case of a written or televised account or an account by other electronic
means, it is accompanied by a picture of the person; or
(c) in
the case of a broadcast or televised account or an account by other electronic
means, it is spoken in whole or in part by the person and the person’s
voice is sufficient to identify that person to a member of the public, or to a
member of the section of the public to which the account is disseminated, as
the case requires.
(4) A reference in
subsection (1) or (2) to proceedings includes a reference to proceedings
commenced before the commencement of section 41 of the Family Court Amendment
Act 1987 .
[(5), (6) deleted]
(7) Proceedings for an
offence against subsection (1) or (2) must not be commenced except by, or with
the written consent of, the DPP.
(8) Subsections (1)
and (2) do not apply to or in relation to —
(a) the
communication, to persons concerned in proceedings in any court, of any
pleading, transcript of evidence or other document for use in connection with
those proceedings; or
(aa) the
communication of any pleading, transcript of evidence or other document to an
authority of a State or Territory that has responsibilities relating to the
welfare of children and is prescribed by the regulations for the purposes of
this paragraph; or
(b) the
communication of any pleading, transcript of evidence or other document to
—
(i)
a body that is responsible for disciplining members of
the legal profession; or
(ii)
persons concerned in disciplinary proceedings against a
member of the legal profession, being proceedings before a body that is
responsible for disciplining members of the legal profession;
or
(c) the
communication, to a body that grants assistance by way of legal aid, of any
pleading, transcript of evidence or other document for the purpose of
facilitating the making of a decision as to whether assistance by way of legal
aid should be granted, continued or provided in a particular case; or
(d) the
publishing of a notice or report in pursuance of the direction of a court; or
(da) the
publication by a court of lists of proceedings under this Act, identified by
reference to the names of the parties, that are to be dealt with by the court;
or
(e) the
publishing of any publication bona fide intended primarily for use by the
members of any profession, being —
(i)
a separate volume or part of a series of law reports or a
decision of a court from information stored electronically or otherwise; or
(ii)
any other publication of a technical character;
or
(f) the
publication or other dissemination of an account of proceedings or of any part
of proceedings —
(i)
to a person who is a member of a profession, in
connection with the person’s professional practice or in the course of
any form of professional training in which that person is involved; or
(ii)
to a person who is a student, in connection with the
person’s studies; or
(iii)
to a natural person who is a party to any proceedings
under this Act, in connection with the conduct of those proceedings;
or
(g) the
publication of accounts of proceedings, where those accounts have been
approved by a court.
(9) In this section
—
court includes —
(a) an
officer of a court investigating or dealing with a matter in accordance with
this Act, the regulations or the rules; and
(b) a
tribunal established by or under a law of this State or of the Commonwealth or
of any other State or of a Territory;
electronic means includes —
(a) in
the form of data, text or images by means of guided and, or, unguided
electromagnetic energy; or
(b) in
the form of speech by means of guided and, or, unguided electromagnetic
energy, where the speech is processed at its destination by an automated voice
recognition system.
[Section 243 amended: No. 25 of 2002 s. 71 and 75;
No. 50 of 2003 s. 60(2); No. 4 of 2004 s. 58; No. 35 of 2006 s. 42(2) and 79;
No. 16 of 2021 s. 5.]