By: Georgie Austin and Deniz Coskundag Deeming v Pesutto (No 3) [2024] FCA 1430 At a glance Parliamentary Member Ms Moira Deeming was awarded $300,000 in damages after the Federal Court ruled that she was defamed by a series of statements and media interviews made by Victorian Opposition Leader Mr John Pesutto, following a rally […]
By: Richard Leder, Jacquie Goodwin, Blake Pappas and Deniz Coskundag Footscray Football Club Ltd v Adam Kneale [2024] VSCA 314 At a glance The Victorian Court of Appeal has allowed the Club’s appeal against the quantum of Mr Kneale’s general damages and economic loss claim, significantly reducing the jury’s $5.9 million award of damages to […]
By: Georgie Austin, Zoe Burchill and Deniz Coskundag At a glance The Federal Court of Australia recently found that Senator Pauline Hanson breached s 18C of the Racial Discrimination Act for a post published on social media platform X (formerly Twitter). In 2022, Senator Mehreen Faruqi posted a tweet about the monarchy, in which Senator […]
By: Georgie Austin, Zoe Burchill and Anthea Dres At a glance On 22 October 2024, Justice Abraham granted Bruce Lehrmann the authority to appeal his defamation case against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson. The respondents had sought security in the amount of $200,000 for their costs of the appeal proceeding and this application was subsequently […]
By: Richard Leder, Georgie Austin, Blake Pappas and Zoe Burchill At a glance Bruce Lehrmann has been allowed to appeal his defamation case against Network Ten and Lisa Wilkinson. The Federal Court dismissed the requirement for him to pay $200,000 in security costs before the appeal. The initial ruling by Justice Michael Lee found that […]
By: Richard Leder, Georgie Austin, Blake Pappas and Jessica Bennett At a glance Across Australia, various state and territory laws govern the recording of private conversations and the communication and publishing of such recordings. Before publishing or sharing any recordings, it is crucial to be aware that doing so may not only work against your […]
By: Richard Leder, Georgie Austin, Blake Pappas, Zoe Burchill and Isabella Antonino At a glance The Stage 2 Defamation Reforms, building on Australia’s national Model Defamation Provisions, focus on addressing defamation in digital contexts and protecting those reporting criminal conduct. Key aspects of the Stage 2 reforms include: Part A amendments: Targeting defamatory content published […]
By: Richard Leder, Georgie Austin, Blake Pappas and Bella Marazita The Federal Court’s decision in Lehrmann v Network Ten Pty Limited (Lehrmann case) serves as another cautionary tale for prospective plaintiffs who are tempted to use defamation litigation as a vehicle to challenge serious allegations of criminal wrongdoing in order to vindicate themselves. The Lehrmann […]
Tell us about your journey to becoming a partner at W+K I am honoured to have joined the partnership at W+K in January this year, following a move with 11 of my colleagues from our previous firm including partner Richard Leder, special counsel Catherine O’Keefe, senior associates Blake Pappas, Jacquie Goodwin, Simone Tagliaferro, associates Renata […]
In recent years, documentary series like Netflix’s Making a Murderer and podcasts such as The Teacher’s Pet have proved wildly popular, with tens of millions of users streaming each worldwide. However, online publications like these are treated as being continuously published so they carry a higher risk of attracting contempt of court charges than printed […]
