Hon Nick Goiran inquired about the Defamation Act 2005, specifically its review history and future plans. The Attorney General's response highlighted the absence of a statutory review requirement and referenced a 2018 review by the Standing Council of Attorneys-General.

AnsweredQoN 219Legislative Council
Asked
19 March 2026
Portfolio
Attorney General

QuestionView source ↗

Defamation Act—Review
219. Hon Nick Goiran to
the parliamentary secretary representing the Attorney
General:
I refer to the Defamation Act 2005 , which has been in operation
for more than two decades.
(1) When was the act last reviewed by the
department?
(2) Does the Attorney General or the
department currently have any plans to conduct a review of the act?
(3) If no to (2), why not?

AnswerView source ↗

I thank the
honourable member for some notice of the question and answer on behalf of the
Attorney General.
(1)–(3) There is no statutory review requirement
in the Defamation Act 2005 . In 2018, the Standing
Council of Attorneys-General reconvened the defamation working party, which was
established under the model defamation provisions intergovernmental agreement
to review the model defamation provisions contained in each state and territory
defamation law. The defamation working party made a number of recommendations
for reform, which were unanimously accepted by SCAG.

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