Australian Broadcasting Corporation & Anor v Hodgkinson

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) and a journalist, Mr. Mark Davies, appealed to the High Court of Australia against a judgment of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The dispute concerned the publication of certain information by the ABC, which the respondent, Mr. Hodgkinson, alleged constituted a breach of confidence. Mr. Hodgkinson sought an injunction to restrain further publication and damages.

The High Court was required to determine whether the information published by the ABC was protected by an obligation of confidence, and if so, whether the ABC's publication constituted a breach of that obligation. A key issue was whether the information, which related to Mr. Hodgkinson's personal affairs and was obtained by Mr. Davies in the course of his employment as a journalist, was of a nature that could be subject to an equitable duty of confidence. The court also considered the public interest defence, which the ABC sought to rely upon.

The High Court, in a joint judgment by Gleeson CJ and Heydon J, found that the information in question was not imparted in circumstances importing an obligation of confidence. Their Honours reasoned that the information was not confidential in nature and that Mr. Hodgkinson had not established the necessary elements for a breach of confidence claim. Specifically, the court held that the information was not private in a way that attracted equitable protection, and that the circumstances of its acquisition and publication did not give rise to a duty of confidence. The public interest defence was therefore not considered.

The appeal was allowed, and the judgment of the Supreme Court of New South Wales was set aside. The High Court ordered that the proceedings in the Supreme Court be dismissed.