Defamation claims have been in the news recently, with Ray Hadley being ordered to pay damages of $280,000 to Mrs. Ahmed, whom he described on the radio as being “vile” and “a grub”. When something is said or written about a person, and that damages their reputation, or damages their business, defamation laws in Australia allow for a claim to be made to compensate the person for the attack. To add to the personal attack of Mrs. Ahmed, Hadley also urged the public to keep away from her family business, which ultimately did result in happening. Mrs. Ahmed had to fight her claim in the Supreme Court – and she won. The $280,000 compensation award acts as a way to also restore her reputation –by winning the court claim; she has achieved the outcome of being able to say “this was not true, I was defamed”.

The law of defamation applies to every form of communication in the same way, whether it is on a radio show like 2GB, on twitter, Facebook, TV or in the newspaper. For a claim to be successful, the comment made must be shown to be untrue, or substantially untrue. A comment about a person, where it is their opinion, such as someone being called “vile” or “a grub” must be honestly held opinions and not malicious. In the Hadley case, the Judge said that the ‘poisoned arrows of the words used found their mark, and left the person sorely wounded.’

A jury heard part of the case and determined that the comments were not justified. The damages of $280,000, was one of the highest in recent Courts in NSW and should act as a warning to ‘shock jocks’ and bloggers to not stray from the truth. Not only will 2GB have to pay $280,000, but the legal bill on top of that will mean that it really cost them a lot more. Etheringtons have recently also had successful defamation claims for damages in the Supreme Court and regularly give advice about the law in this area.