Macquarie Radio Network Pty Limited v Dent

Macquarie Radio Network Pty Limited (MRN) sought to restrain Dent from publishing certain material, alleging it constituted a breach of confidence and was defamatory. The dispute concerned allegations made by Dent regarding the conduct of MRN and its employees. The matter came before the High Court of Australia.

The High Court was required to determine whether the equitable doctrine of breach of confidence applied to the information Dent intended to publish, and if so, whether MRN was entitled to an injunction to prevent that publication. A further issue was whether the publication would be defamatory of MRN.

Gummow ACJ and Hayne JJ considered the elements of breach of confidence, namely that the information must have the necessary quality of confidence, that it must have been imparted in circumstances importing an obligation of confidence, and that there must be an unauthorised use of that information to the detriment of the party communicating it. Their Honours found that the information in question did not possess the necessary quality of confidence, as it related to matters of public interest and was not confidential in nature. Consequently, the equitable claim for breach of confidence failed. The court also considered the defence of defamation, noting that the publication of truthful information, even if damaging, is not defamatory.

The High Court dismissed MRN's application for an injunction.