Nationwide News Pty Limited v Hartley

Nationwide News Pty Limited (the appellant) appealed to the New South Wales Court of Appeal against a judgment of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. The dispute concerned an action for defamation brought by Mr. Hartley (the respondent) against the appellant.

The primary legal issue before the Court of Appeal was whether the defence of qualified privilege was available to Nationwide News Pty Limited in respect of the defamatory material published about Mr. Hartley. This involved considering whether the occasion of publication was privileged and, if so, whether that privilege had been defeated by malice on the part of the appellant.

The Court of Appeal, in its reasoning, affirmed that the defence of qualified privilege requires a reciprocal duty and interest between the publisher and the recipient of the information. It was held that while the occasion of publication might have been privileged, the evidence did not establish that the appellant had acted with malice. The Court considered the state of mind of the appellant's employees at the time of publication and found no basis to conclude that they had acted with improper motive or knowledge of falsity. Consequently, the defence of qualified privilege was not defeated.

The appeal was allowed, and the judgment of the Supreme Court in favour of Mr. Hartley was set aside.