[no bill text published] New requirements for commencing defamation proceedings and liability for digital intermediaries
Defamation Legislation Amendment Bill 2025
Assembly
Links to official parliament websites
Effects of this bill
If this bill passes, it means that:
People cannot start defamation proceedings unless they first provide a concerns notice.
Digital intermediaries are exempt from liability for caching, conduit or storage services; this applies even if they knew the matter was defamatory.
Courts can order preliminary discovery to identify posters of digital matter.
Courts can order non-party digital intermediaries to remove or restrict digital matter.
Defendants can use the defence of contextual truth.
Defendants can use a scientific or academic journal defence for assessments published in the same journal.
Courts can extend the limitation period for a concerns notice based on the circumstances of the delay.