Australian journalists are more vulnerable to defamation action than many of their international counterparts. Australia lacks both a bill of rights and an explicit rights to freedom of speech in the Australian constitution.
According to the Australia’s Right to Know campaign, a collaborative effort between all major Australian media publishers and outlets, major causes in the decline of press freedom include anti-terrorism legislation (Australian anti-terrorism legislation, 2004 and Australian Anti-Terrorism Act 2005), sedition laws, suppression orders and Freedom of Information requests.
Implied freedom
In 1992, the High Court of Australia saw the case of Australian Capital Television Pty Ltd v Commonwealth, concerning a decision the previous year which inserted Part IIID into the Broadcasting Act 1942. The resulting regulations banned political advertising during Federal, State or Local elections.
There was some free time provided for political messages, but 90 percent of this was allocated to parties in the previous government. A majority decision found in favour of Australian Capital Television, ruling there was an implied right to freedom of political communication in the constitution.
The 4-3 decision of the Theophanous v Herald and Weekly Times Ltd case two years later enforced the previous ruling to the extent of validating the constitution’s implied freedom of speech as a defamation defense, however this did not last.
Lange v ABC
In 1997, the High Court heard the case of former New Zealand Prime Minister Lange v Australian Broadcasting Corporation on the rulings of the Theophanous and Stephens v West Australian Newspapers. “While the judges unanimously confirmed the existence of an implied constitutional freedom of political speech, they did not cite it as a defense against defamation action by politicians.”
Since Australian law does not currently accept the implied freedoms as a defamation defense, Australian journalists facing slander or libel must use common law defense. This involves the defendant proving that they:
did believe defamatory imputations were true;
undertook reasonable steps to confirm the accuracy of defamatory information;
had reasonable grounds for a belief that defamatory imputations were true;
included a response from the defamed person, except where this was seen as not practical or was unnecessary.
Journalism education in Australia
As many as 38 Australian universities and educational institutions provide journalism and communication courses. Most new Australian journalists have a tertiary education in the field. In 2000, seven of eight cadetships given by the Age were given to those with a journalism degree. In the same year, however, the Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance estimated Australian universities produced approximately 600 students graduating with either a Bachelor of Journalism or an undergraduate degree majoring in Journalism, with another (approx.) 50 graduates with a Masters qualification.
Journalist education levels
Australian ABS Labour Force Survey of 2014 reveals that Bachelor Degree is dominating to occupy the journalism and media professions in the country, compared to other levels of education and training in the discipline. The below mentioned graph in this regard indicates a comparative picture of journalists and other writer’s education levels with all occupations in Australia.
Journalism age profile
According to the Australian ABS Labour Force Survey of 2014., the Journalism industry has a strong appeal amongst young people, making it a vibrant and dynamic work environment. The below mentioned graph in this regard indicates a comparative picture of age profile of journalists and other writers with all occupations in Australia.
Bangladeshi born notable journalists in Australia
There are many Bangladeshi born journalists and media professionals living in Australia. Among them are notable; Dr Tanveer Ahmed, Journalist, television personality and psychiatrist, columnist for the Sydney Morning Herald; Ishraq Huda, Champion at the International Olympiad in Informatics 2014, held in Taiwan; Aamer Rahman, Comedian. Besides, a good number of Bangladeshi immigrant journalists are working to send dispatches to Bangladeshi print and electronic media from Australia. n
(The writer is now visiting Sydney, Melbourne
and Canberra of Australia)
