Nationwide News Pty Ltd v Vass - [2018] NSWCA 259

Court of Appeal

Supreme Court

New South Wales

Summary available
Amendment notes

Medium Neutral Citation: Nationwide News Pty Ltd v Vass [2018] NSWCA 259
Hearing dates: 18 September 2018
Decision date: 08 November 2018
Before: McColl JA at [1];
Basten JA at [120];
Leeming JA at [163]
Decision:
(1)   Grant leave to appeal.
(2)   Direct Nationwide News Pty Ltd to file a notice of appeal in the form of the draft in the White Book within 7 days.
(3)   Dismiss the appeal with costs.

Catchwords:
DEFAMATION – offers of amends – where defendant made offer of amends pursuant to Pt 3, Div 1 of the Defamation Act 2005 (NSW) including offer of compensation and stated offer was “open to be accepted until commencement of the trial, unless withdrawn in writing” – where plaintiff made offer of compromise pursuant to Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW), r 20.26, seeking damages in greater amount than compensation in offer of amends – where offer of amends not expressly withdrawn – where plaintiff accepted offer of amends prior to trial – whether offer of compromise constituted rejection of offer of amends – whether offer of amends validly accepted

STATUTORY INTERPRETATION – whether Pt 3, Div 1 of the Defamation Act 2005 (NSW) departs from the general law of offer and acceptance

STATUTORY INTERPRETATION – whether intersection between statutory schemes established by Pt 3, Div 1 of the Defamation Act 2005 (NSW) and offer of compromise provisions in UCPR Pt 20, Div 4
WORDS AND PHRASES – “withdrawn” – Defamation Act 2005 (NSW), s 16
Legislation Cited: Civil Law (Wrongs) Act 2002 (ACT)
Defamation Act 1952 (UK)
Defamation Act 1974 (NSW)
Defamation Act 1996 (UK)
Defamation Act 2005 (NSW), ss 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19; Pt 3, Div 1, Div 2; Pt 4, Div 1
Defamation Act 2005 (Qld)
Defamation Act 2005 (SA)
Defamation Act 2005 (Tas)
Defamation Act 2005 (Vic)
Defamation Act 2005 (WA)
Defamation Act 2006 (NT)
Defamation Amendment Act 2002 (NSW)
Supreme Court Act 1970 (NSW), s 101
Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW), r 20.26
Cases Cited: Abu v MGN Limited [2003] 1 WLR 2201; [2002] EWHC 2345 (QB)
Associated Confectionery (Aust) Ltd v Mineral and Chemical Traders Pty Ltd (1991) 25 NSWLR 349
Baker v Taylor (1906) 6 SR (NSW) 500
Ballas v Theophilos (No 2) (1957) 98 CLR 193; [1957] HCA 90
Barrow v Ackland & Gibson [2017] VSC 485
Berowra Holdings Pty Ltd v Gordon (2006) 225 CLR 364; [2006] HCA 32
Brambles Holdings v Bathurst City Council (2001) 53 NSWLR 153; [2001] NSWCA 61
Bushara v Nobananbas Pty Ltd [2012] NSWSC 63
Calderbank v Calderbank [1976] Fam 93; [1975] 3 WLR 586
Carter v Hyde (1923) 33 CLR 115; [1923] HCA 36
CIC Insurance Ltd v Bankstown Football Club Ltd (1997) 187 CLR 384; [1997] HCA 2
Computer Machinery Co Ltd v Drescher [1983] 1 WLR 1379
Cutts v Head [1984] Ch 290
Dean v Stockland Property Management Pty Ltd (No 2) [2010] NSWCA 141
Electrolux Home Products Pty Ltd v Australian Workers’ Union (2004) 221 CLR 309; [2004] HCA 40
Gifford v Strang Patrick Stevedoring Pty Ltd (2003) 214 CLR 269; [2003] HCA 33
Hagerty v Hills Central Pty Ltd [2018] NSWCA 200
Harris v Jenkins [1922] SASR 59
Hockey v Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd (2015) 237 FCR 33; [2015] FCA 652
Hocking v Western Australian Bank (1909) 9 CLR 738; [1909] HCA 68
Hyde v Wrench [1840] 49 ER 132
Khlad v Athanas Bros (Aden) Ltd (1967) 1 BPR 9310 (PC)
Livingstone v Evans [1925] 4 DLR 769
Loughton Contracts Plc v Dun & Bradstreet Limited [2006] EWHC 1224 (QB); [2006] All ER (D) 368
Malika Holdings Pty Ltd v Stretton (2001) 204 CLR 290; [2001] HCA 14
Melbourne Corporation v Barry (1922) 31 CLR 174; [1922] HCA 56
Mighty River International Ltd v Hughes; Mighty River International Ltd v Mineral Resources Ltd [2018] HCA 38; (2018) 92 ALJR 822
Milne v Express Newspapers [2005] 1 All ER 1021; [2004] EWCA 664
Mirror Newspapers Limited v Fitzpatrick [1984] 1 NSWLR 643
Moore v Scottish Daily Record & Sunday Mail Ltd [2007] ScotCS CSOH 24
Pingel v Toowoomba Newspapers Pty Ltd [2010] QCA 175
Quadling v Robinson (1976) 137 CLR 192; [1976] HCA 31
Regional Express Holdings Ltd v Australian Federation of Air Pilots [2017] HCA 55; (2017) 92 ALJR 134
Retek Pty Ltd v First Edition Properties Pty Ltd [2003] QSC 007
Ringrow Pty Ltd v BP Australia Pty Ltd (2005) 224 CLR 656; [2005] HCA 71
Sheffield Canal Co v Sheffield and Rotherham Ry Co (1841) Ry & Can Cas 121
Stevenson Jaques & Co v McLean (1880) 5 QBD 346
SZTAL v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection [2017] HCA 34; (2017) 91 ALJR 936
Tesco Stores Ltd v Guardian News & Media Ltd [2009] EMLR 5; [2008] EWHC B14 (QB)
Transmetro Corp Ltd v Davy and Ors [2005] QCA 239
Trustee for the Salvation Army (NSW) Property Trust t/as Salvation Army v Becker (No 2) [2007] NSWCA 194
Wagner v Harbour Radio Pty Ltd [2018] QSC 201
Warren v The Random House Group Ltd [2007] EWHC 2856 (QB); [2008] 2 WLR 1033
Warren v The Random House Group Ltd [2009] QB 600; [2008] EWCA Civ 834
Whitney v Dream Developments Pty Ltd (2013) 84 NSWLR 311; [2013] NSWCA 188
Zoef v Nationwide Pty Ltd (2016) 92 NSWLR 570; [2016] NSWCA 283
Texts Cited: Carter and Harland, Contract Law in Australia (3rd ed, 1996, Butterworths)
Clerk & Lindsell on Torts (19th ed, 2006, Sweet & Maxwell)
Collins, “New Defamation Law for the ACT” (2001) 6 Media & Arts Law Review 335
Defamation Law: Proposals for Reform in NSW: Report of Attorney General’s Task Force on Defamation Law Reform, (April 2002)
England and Wales, Supreme Court Procedure Committee, (July 1991)
Mullis and Parkes, Gatley on Libel and Slander (12th ed, 2013, Sweet & Maxwell)
New South Wales Legislative Assembly, Parliamentary Debates (Hansard), 13 September 2005
Report of the Law Reform Commission on Defamation New South Wales Law Reform Commission, Report 11, (1971)
Second Reading Speech, Defamation Amendment Bill, New South Wales Legislative Assembly, Parliamentary Debates (Hansard), 12 November 2002
Seddon and Ellinghaus, Cheshire and Fifoot’s Law of Contract (8th ed, 2002, LexisNexis Butterworths)
Category: Principal judgment
Parties: Nationwide News Pty Ltd (Appellant)
Damien Vass (Respondent)
Representation:
Counsel:
D Sibtain with M Lewis (Appellant)
P Gray SC with L Chapman (Respondent)
Solicitors:
News Corp Australia (Appellant)
O’Brien Solicitors (Respondent)

File Number(s): 2018/155600
Publication restriction: No
Decision under appeal

Court or tribunal:

Supreme Court of NSW

Jurisdiction:

Common Law

Citation:

[2018] NSWSC 639

Date of Decision:

20 April 2018

Before:

McCallum J

File Number(s):

2016/131838

HEADNOTE

[This headnote is not to be read as part of the Judgment]

Nationwide News Pty Ltd (Nationwide) sought leave to appeal from a decision in which the primary judge declared, in substance, that defamation proceedings brought against Nationwide by the respondent, Mr Damien Vass, had been settled when he accepted an offer of amends made by Nationwide pursuant to Pt 3, Div 1 of the Defamation Act 2005 (NSW) (2005 Act) (amends provisions).

In 2015, Nationwide published an article in The Sunday Telegraph which conveyed imputations to the effect that Mr Vass had “dealt inappropriately” with a five-panelled artwork by selling one of its component panels separately, contrary to a term of the contract for sale that it must not be broken up.

Mr Vass served Nationwide with a concerns notice setting out imputations he alleged were carried by the matter complained of, each of which he contended was “highly defamatory and completely false”. In response, Nationwide sent Mr Vass an offer to make amends (first offer of amends), the terms of which included an agreement not to republish the matter complained of or the imputations. The offer specified it remained “open to be accepted until commencement of the trial, unless withdrawn in writing”. It made no offer to pay any compensation. Mr Vass replied complaining the offer was not reasonable.

A year after filing a statement of claim commencing proceedings against Nationwide, Mr Vass sent Nationwide a “without prejudice” letter enclosing an offer of compromise for judgment in the sum of $149,001 pursuant to Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) (UCPR), r 20.26. In response, Nationwide withdrew the first offer of amends and made a “renewed offer” (second offer of amends) in substantially the same terms as the first, except that it included an offer to pay $50,000 by way of damages.

After Nationwide filed and served its defence which pleaded the making of the two offers of amends as a defence pursuant to s 18 of the 2005 Act, Mr Vass sent Nationwide a second offer of compromise, again pursuant to UCPR r 20.26. He sought judgment in the sum of $449,001. Nationwide did not respond.

Five weeks prior to the date listed for trial of the proceedings, Mr Vass wrote to Nationwide accepting the second offer of amends. Nationwide responded that his letter proceeded upon the erroneous assumption that the second offer of amends remained open for acceptance.

The matter was relisted before McCallum J to determine whether Mr Vass had validly accepted the second offer of amends. Her Honour held that he had. She rejected Nationwide’s argument that the second offer of compromise was a counteroffer which implicitly rejected the second offer of amends.

The principal issue on appeal was whether common law principles of contract concerning offer and acceptance operate within the framework of the amends provisions such that service of the second offer of compromise constituted an implicit rejection of the second offer of amends with the consequence that that offer was not open for acceptance.

Nationwide sought leave to appeal.

The Court (McColl, Basten and Leeming JJA), granting leave to appeal but dismissing the appeal, held:

Per McColl JA:

(1) It is apparent from the text, legislative history and purpose the amends provisions seek to achieve that the legislature did not intend them to be construed by reference to ordinary contractual principles: at [86], [89], [104] – [110].

Malika Holdings Pty Ltd v Stretton (2001) 204 CLR 290; [2001] HCA 14; Gifford v Strang Patrick Stevedoring Pty Ltd (2003) 214 CLR 269; [2003] HCA 33; Electrolux Home Products Pty Ltd v Australian Workers’ Union (2004) 221 CLR 309; [2004] HCA 40 applied;

Moore v Scottish Daily Record & Sunday Mail Ltd [2007] ScotCS CSOH 24; Tesco Stores Ltd v Guardian News & Media Ltd [2009] EMLR 5; [2008] EWHC B14 (QB); Warren v The Random House Group Ltd [2009] QB 600; [2008] EWCA Civ 834; Loughton Contracts Plc v Dun & Bradstreet Limited [2006] EWHC 1224 (QB); [2006] All ER (D) 368; Barrow v Ackland & Gibson [2017] VSC 485 considered.

The amends provisions establish a discrete scheme, compliance with which depends upon taking the steps for which it provides and with which alternative means of resolving litigation do not intersect, save to the extent that all attempts to settle may be brought to bear pursuant to s 40 of the 2005 Act: at [85].

(3) Like the amends provisions, the compromise provisions in Pt 20 of the UCPR create a statutory scheme. An offer of compromise made pursuant to a statutory scheme acquires a significance which a settlement offer made under ordinary contractual principles does not attract. The compromise provisions operate separately from the amends provisions as s 12 of the 2005 Act makes clear. Accordingly, Mr Vass’s second offer of compromise did not operate as a counteroffer to the second offer of amends: at [91] – [94], [111] – [112].

Berowra Holdings Pty Ltd v Gordon (2006) 225 CLR 364; [2006] HCA 32 referred to.

(4) The second offer of amends stood to be determined by its terms. They provided that the offer of amends remained “open to be accepted until commencement of the trial, unless withdrawn in writing.” Because it was not withdrawn, and because both Mr Vass’s offers of compromise were made pursuant to the provisions of the UCPR “instead of” under the amends provisions (as was expressly contemplated by s 12(2) of the 2005 Act), the second offer of compromise did not operate as a counteroffer to the second offer of amends: at [112] – [113].

Per Basten JA:

(5) The terms of an offer of amends must be assessed against the statutory scheme in order to understand how they should be construed. An offer expressed to be open until trial and only to be capable of withdrawal by notice in writing, was capable of acceptance at a time when no notice of withdrawal had been given: at [124], [159].

Bushara v Nobananbas Pty Ltd [2012] NSWSC 63; Pingel v Toowoomba Newspapers Pty Ltd [2010] QCA 175; Barrow v Ackland [2017] VSC 485 referred to.

(6) The statutory scheme under the amends provisions should be seen to operate independently of the general provisions relating to offers of compromise. It is neither necessary nor appropriate to introduce into the 2005 Act concepts found within the UCPR: at [144], [161].

Per Leeming JA:

(7) Nothing in the 2005 Act detracts from a publisher’s ability to prescribe the manner of acceptance or circumstances in which an offer will come to an end. There is no reason to displace the natural meaning of the words included in both of Nationwide’s offers of amends. Nationwide’s offers contained but a single qualification upon the period during which they were open for acceptance, namely, “unless withdrawn in writing”. On their proper construction, they were not subject to a second and additional qualification of being withdrawn by a rejection or the making of a counteroffer: at [170] – [171], [174] – [175].

Brambles Holdings Ltd v Bathurst City Council (2001) 53 NSWLR 153; [2001] NSWCA 61; Ballas v Theophilos (No 2) (1957) 98 CLR 193; [1957] HCA 90; Pingel v Toowoomba Newspapers Pty Ltd [2010] QCA 175 referred to.

(8) By withdrawing the first offer of amends, Nationwide unequivocally proceeded on the basis that its original offer had remained open for acceptance for almost two years, notwithstanding the service of the statement of claim (not to mention the response from Mr Vass that its offer was not reasonable): at [171].

**********

Judgment

McCOLL JA: Nationwide News Pty Ltd (Nationwide) seeks leave to appeal from a decision of McCallum J in which her Honour declared, in substance, that defamation proceedings brought against Nationwide by the respondent, Mr Damien Vass, had been settled on 21 March 2018 when he accepted an offer of amends made by Nationwide on 9 May 2017. [1]
1. Vass v Nationwide News Pty Ltd [2018] NSWSC 639 (primary judgment).
The summons seeking leave to appeal was heard concurrently with the appeal, so that in the event leave to appeal were granted, the argument on the leave application would also be argument on the appeal.
The central issue Nationwide identifies as warranting leave to appeal is whether common law principles of contract concerning offer and acceptance operate within the framework of the provisions in Pt 3, Div 1 of the Defamation Act 2005 (NSW) (2005 Act) dealing with offers to make amends (amends provisions) so that an offer of compromise made by Mr Vass had the effect of a counteroffer such that Nationwide’s offer of amends was no longer open for acceptance.
For the reasons that follow, I am of the view that leave to appeal should be granted, but that the appeal should be dismissed with costs.

Factual background

Mr Vass is an art collector. On 3 May 2015, Nationwide published an article in The Sunday Telegraph (matter complained of) which conveyed imputations, in substance, to the effect that Mr Vass had “dealt inappropriately” with a pentaptych, the heart land, painted by Ms Del Kathryn Barton. Mr Vass had bought the heart land from the Roslyn Oxley9 gallery in August 2014. The matter complained of stated that Ms Barton’s lawyers had written to Mr Vass accusing him of selling one of the five panels of the pentaptych separately, contrary to a term of his contract for sale with the Roslyn Oxley9 gallery that the pentaptych must not be broken up.
On 8 May 2015, Mr Vass served Nationwide with a concerns notice (s 14(2), 2005 Act) setting out four imputations he alleged were carried by the matter complained of, each of which he contended was “highly defamatory and completely false”.
On 5 June 2015, Nationwide sent Mr Vass an offer to make amends (first offer of amends) pursuant to s 14(1) of the 2005 Act and the equivalent legislation in each Australian State and Territory. [2] As summarised by the primary judge:[3]

“[5] … [T]he terms of that offer included an agreement not to republish the matter complained of or the imputations, to remove the matter complained of from websites within the defendant’s control, to publish an apology with various specified features and to pay expenses reasonably incurred by the plaintiff before the offer was made and in considering the offer. It also included a requirement that the plaintiff execute a deed of settlement and release. That initial offer to make amends included no offer to pay any compensation.”
2. The amends provisions are in substantially the same form as Pt 3, Div 1 of the 2005 Act in all other States and Territories. Civil Law (Wrongs) Act 2002 (ACT), Pt 9.3, Div 9.3.1, ss 124 – 131; Defamation Act 2006 (NT), Pt 3, Div 1, ss 11 – 18; Defamation Act 2005 (Qld), Pt 3, Div 1, ss 12 – 19; Defamation Act 2005 (SA), Pt 3, Div 1, ss 12 – 19; Defamation Act 2005 (Tas), Pt 3, Div 1, ss 12 – 19; Defamation Act 2005 (Vic), Pt 3, Div 1, ss 12 – 19; Defamation Act 2005 (WA), Pt 3, Div 1, ss 12 – 19.
3. Primary judgment at [5].

The first offer of amends was headed “without prejudice save as to costs and a s 18 defence.” The body of the offer specified that it was relied upon “both as a defence under s 18 of the [2005] Act (and equivalent sections in legislation of other States and Territories) and in support of an application that [Mr Vass] pay [Nationwide]’s costs on an indemnity basis pursuant to s 40 of the [2005] Act and the principles in Calderbank v Calderbank.” It further specified, “This offer remains open to be accepted until commencement of the trial, unless withdrawn in writing” and that Nationwide remained ready and willing to perform the offer of acceptance. [4]
4. Ibid at [6].
By letter dated 10 June 2015, in response to the first offer of amends, Mr Vass complained among other matters that an offer of amends which did not include a “significant amount by way of compensation” was not reasonable (cf s 18(1)(c), 2005 Act).
On 29 April 2016, Mr Vass filed and served a statement of claim commencing defamation proceedings against Nationwide in respect of the matter complained of. He filed a second further amended statement of claim on 7 April 2017 (SFASOC).
On 28 April 2017, Mr Vass sent Nationwide a “without prejudice” letter enclosing an offer of compromise for judgment in the sum of $149,001 pursuant to Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW) (UCPR), r 20.26 (first offer of compromise). It was said to be open for acceptance for 28 days.
By letter dated 9 May 2017, Nationwide withdrew the first offer of amends and made a “renewed offer” (second offer of amends) (s 16(2), 2005 Act). It was in substantially the same terms as the first offer, except that it included an offer to pay $50,000 by way of damages. Once again, the penultimate paragraph stated:

“This offer remains open to be accepted until commencement of the trial, unless withdrawn in writing. My client remains ready and willing to perform the terms of this offer immediately upon acceptance.”

On 1 June 2017, Nationwide served its defence to the SFASOC. In paragraph 13, Nationwide pleaded the making of the two offers of amends in the following terms:

“Offer to make amends (section 18 of the Act)
13.   Further, or in the alternative, the Defendant says that:
13.1.   the Defendant made an offer to make amends to the Plaintiff as soon as practicable after becoming aware that the matter may be defamatory;
13.2.   the Defendant remains ready and willing, on acceptance of the offer by the Plaintiff, to carry out the terms of the offer; and

13.3. the Plaintiff has failed to accept the offer.”

The particulars of the s 18 defence asserted that the second offer of amends represented a genuine attempt to address Mr Vass’s “Matters of Concern” (s 16, 2005 Act) and was a “renewed offer” within the meaning of s 16 of the 2005 Act.
This plea did not plead in terms of s 18(1)(c) that “in all the circumstances the offer was reasonable.”[5] It can be taken, however, that it was intended, as its heading indicated, to invoke s 18.
5. Cf the s 18 defence pleaded in Zoef v Nationwide Pty Ltd (2016) 92 NSWLR 570; [2016] NSWCA 283 at [99].
On 30 January 2018, Mr Vass sent Nationwide a second offer of compromise pursuant to UCPR r 20.26. He sought judgment in the sum of $449,001. The offer of compromise was again expressed to be open for acceptance for 28 days.
On 21 March 2018, Mr Vass wrote to Nationwide accepting the second offer of amends, which he described as “your Calderbank Offer”. Nationwide responded the same day contending that his letter proceeded upon the erroneous assumption that the second offer of amends remained open for acceptance. Rather, after referring to the second offer of compromise, which Nationwide described as a “counter offer” which it did not accept, the letter continued:

“My client is confused. The counter offer made by your client appeared to be a rejection of my client’s offer of 9 May 2017. My client did not renew its offer after that date. The consequence is that the offer made on 9 May 2017 is not open for acceptance by your client.
Moreover, my client is not prepared to renew the offer it made on 9 May 2017.”

At the time Mr Vass purported to accept the second offer of amends, the trial of the proceedings had been listed for hearing to commence on 30 April 2018.
The matter was then re-listed before McCallum J to resolve as a matter of urgency whether Mr Vass had validly accepted the second offer of amends. Before her Honour, acceptance of the second offer of amends, if valid, was treated as bringing to an end any question of the costs of the proceedings.

Legislative context

Defamation Act 2005

The relevant provisions of the 2005 Act are set out below. They are to be understood, not least, in the context of s 3(d) of the 2005 Act which provides that one of the objects of the 2005 Act is “to promote speedy and non-litigious methods of resolving disputes about the publication of defamatory matter.”
Part 3 (Resolution of civil disputes without litigation), Div 1 (Offers to make amends) relevantly provides:

12 Application of Division
(1) This Division applies if a person (the publisher) publishes matter (the matter in question) that is, or may be, defamatory of another person (the aggrieved person).
(2) The provisions of this Division may be used instead of the provisions of any rules of court or any other law in relation to payment into court or offers of compromise.
(3) Nothing in this Division prevents a publisher or aggrieved person from making or accepting a settlement offer in relation to the publication of the matter in question otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of this Division.
13 Publisher may make offer to make amends
(1) The publisher may make an offer to make amends to the aggrieved person.
(2) The offer may be:
(a) in relation to the matter in question generally, or
(b) limited to any particular defamatory imputations that the publisher accepts that the matter in question carries.

(3) If 2 or more persons published the matter in question, an offer to make amends by one or more of them does not affect the liability of the other or others.
(4) An offer to make amends is taken to have been made without prejudice, unless the offer provides otherwise.
14 When offer to make amends may be made
(1) An offer to make amends cannot be made if:
(a) 28 days have elapsed since the publisher was given a concerns notice by the aggrieved person, or
(b) a defence has been served in an action brought by the aggrieved person against the publisher in relation to the matter in question.

(2) A notice is a concerns notice for the purposes of this section if the notice:
(a) is in writing, and
(b) informs the publisher of the defamatory imputations that the aggrieved person considers are or may be carried about the aggrieved person by the matter in question (the imputations of concern).

…
15 Content of offer to make amends
(1) An offer to make amends:
(a) must be in writing, and
(b) must be readily identifiable as an offer to make amends under this Division, and
(c) if the offer is limited to any particular defamatory imputations—must state that the offer is so limited and particularise the imputations to which the offer is limited, and
(d) must include an offer to publish, or join in publishing, a reasonable correction of the matter in question or, if the offer is limited to any particular defamatory imputations, the imputations to which the offer is limited, and
(e) if material containing the matter has been given to someone else by the publisher or with the publisher’s knowledge—must include an offer to take, or join in taking, reasonable steps to tell the other person that the matter is or may be defamatory of the aggrieved person, and
(f) must include an offer to pay the expenses reasonably incurred by the aggrieved person before the offer was made and the expenses reasonably incurred by the aggrieved person in considering the offer, and
(g) may include any other kind of offer, or particulars of any other action taken by the publisher, to redress the harm sustained by the aggrieved person because of the matter in question, including (but not limited to):
(i) an offer to publish, or join in publishing, an apology in relation to the matter in question or, if the offer is limited to any particular defamatory imputations, the imputations to which the offer is limited, or
(ii) an offer to pay compensation for any economic or non-economic loss of the aggrieved person, or
(iii) the particulars of any correction or apology made, or action taken, before the date of the offer.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1) (g) (ii), an offer to pay compensation may comprise or include any one or more of the following:
(a) an offer to pay a stated amount,
(b) an offer to pay an amount to be agreed between the publisher and the aggrieved person,
(c) an offer to pay an amount determined by an arbitrator appointed, or agreed on, by the publisher and the aggrieved person,
(d) an offer to pay an amount determined by a court.

(3) If an offer to make amends is accepted, a court may, on the application of the aggrieved person or publisher, determine:
(a) if the offer provides for a court to determine the amount of compensation payable under the offer—the amount of compensation to be paid under the offer, and
(b) any other question that arises about what must be done to carry out the terms of the offer.

(4) The powers conferred on a court by subsection (3) are exercisable:
(a) if the aggrieved person has brought proceedings against the publisher in any court for defamation in relation to the matter in question, by that court in those proceedings, and
(b) except as provided in paragraph (a), by the Supreme Court. [6]
6. The court may hear an application and determine any question under s 15(3) of the 2005 Act in the absence of the public: UCPR r 29.16.

16 Withdrawal of offer to make amends
(1) An offer to make amends may be withdrawn before it is accepted by notice in writing given to the aggrieved person.
(2) A publisher who has withdrawn an offer to make amends may make a renewed offer.
(3) A renewed offer may (but need not) be in the same terms as the withdrawn offer.
(4) A renewed offer is to be treated as a new offer (including for the purposes of section 14).
(5) However, the time limit specified in section 14 for the making of offers to make amends does not prevent the making of a renewed offer that is not in the same terms as the withdrawn offer if:
(a) the renewed offer represents a genuine attempt by the publisher to address matters of concern raised by the aggrieved person about the withdrawn offer, and
(b) the renewed offer is made within 14 days after the withdrawal of the withdrawn offer or any other period agreed by the publisher and the aggrieved person.

17 Effect of acceptance of offer to make amends
(1) If the publisher carries out the terms of an offer to make amends (including payment of any compensation under the offer) that is accepted, the aggrieved person cannot assert, continue or enforce an action for defamation against the publisher in relation to the matter in question even if the offer was limited to any particular defamatory imputations.
(2) A court may (but need not):
(a) order the publisher to pay the aggrieved person the expenses reasonably incurred by the aggrieved person as a result of accepting the offer, and
(b) order any costs incurred by the aggrieved person that form part of those expenses to be assessed on an indemnity basis.

(3) The powers conferred on a court by subsection (2) are exercisable:
(a) if the aggrieved person has brought proceedings against the publisher in any court for defamation in relation to the matter in question, by that court in those proceedings, and
(b) except as provided in paragraph (a), by the Supreme Court.

18 Effect of failure to accept reasonable offer to make amends
(1) If an offer to make amends is made in relation to the matter in question but is not accepted, it is a defence to an action for defamation against the publisher in relation to the matter if:
(a) the publisher made the offer as soon as practicable after becoming aware that the matter is or may be defamatory, and
(b) at any time before the trial the publisher was ready and willing, on acceptance of the offer by the aggrieved person, to carry out the terms of the offer, and
(c) in all the circumstances the offer was reasonable.

(2) In determining whether an offer to make amends is reasonable, a court:
(a) must have regard to any correction or apology published before any trial arising out of the matter in question, including the extent to which the correction or apology is brought to the attention of the audience of the matter in question taking into account:
(i) the prominence given to the correction or apology as published in comparison to the prominence given to the matter in question as published, and
(ii) the period that elapses between publication of the matter in question and publication of the correction or apology, and

(b) may have regard to:
(i) whether the aggrieved person refused to accept an offer that was limited to any particular defamatory imputations because the aggrieved person did not agree with the publisher about the imputations that the matter in question carried, and
(ii) any other matter that the court considers relevant.

19 Inadmissibility of evidence of certain statements and admissions
(1) Evidence of any statement or admission made in connection with the making or acceptance of an offer to make amends is not admissible as evidence in any legal proceedings (whether criminal or civil).
(2) Subsection (1) does not prevent the admission of evidence in any legal proceedings in order to determine:
(a) any issue arising under, or relating to the application of, a provision of this Division, or
(b) costs in defamation proceedings. [Bolding in original; emphasis added.]

Section 40 of the 2005 Act found in Pt 4 (Litigation of civil disputes), Div 4 (Costs) provides:

40 Costs in defamation proceedings
(1) In awarding costs in defamation proceedings, the court may have regard to:
(a) the way in which the parties to the proceedings conducted their cases (including any misuse of a party’s superior financial position to hinder the early resolution of the proceedings), and
(b) any other matters that the court considers relevant.

(2) Without limiting subsection (1), a court must (unless the interests of justice require otherwise):
(a) if defamation proceedings are successfully brought by a plaintiff and costs in the proceedings are to be awarded to the plaintiff—order costs of and incidental to the proceedings to be assessed on an indemnity basis if the court is satisfied that the defendant unreasonably failed to make a settlement offer or agree to a settlement offer proposed by the plaintiff, or
(b) if defamation proceedings are unsuccessfully brought by a plaintiff and costs in the proceedings are to be awarded to the defendant—order costs of and incidental to the proceedings to be assessed on an indemnity basis if the court is satisfied that the plaintiff unreasonably failed to accept a settlement offer made by the defendant.

(3) In this section:
“settlement offer” means any offer to settle the proceedings made before the proceedings are determined, and includes an offer to make amends (whether made before or after the proceedings are commenced), that was a reasonable offer at the time it was made. [Emphasis added.]

Uniform Civil Procedure Rules

UCPR r 20.26 appears in Pt 20 (Resolution of proceedings without hearing), Div 4 (Compromise) (compromise provisions). It relevantly provides:

(1) In any proceedings, any party may, by notice in writing, make an offer to any other party to compromise any claim in the proceedings, either in whole or in part, on specified terms.
(2) An offer under this rule:
(a) must identify:
(i) the claim or part of the claim to which it relates, and
(ii) the proposed orders for disposal of the claim or part of the claim, including, if a monetary judgment is proposed, the amount of that monetary judgment, and

(b) if the offer relates only to part of a claim in the proceedings, must include a statement:
(i) in the case of an offer by the plaintiff, as to whether the balance of the proceedings is to be abandoned or pursued, or
(ii) in the case of an offer by a defendant, as to whether the balance of the proceedings will be defended or conceded, and

(c) must not include an amount for costs and must not be expressed to be inclusive of costs, and
(d) must bear a statement to the effect that the offer is made in accordance with these rules, and
(e) if the offeror has made or been ordered to make an interim payment to the offeree, must state whether or not the offer is in addition to that interim payment, and
(f) must specify the period of time within which the offer is open for acceptance.
…

(5) The closing date for acceptance of an offer:
(a) in the case of an offer made two months or more before the date set down for commencement of the trial‒is to be no less than 28 days after the date on which the offer is made, and
(b) in any other case‒is to be such date as is reasonable in the circumstances.

…
(8) Unless the notice of offer otherwise provides, an offer providing for the payment of money, or the doing of any other act, is taken to provide for the payment of that money, or the doing of that act, within 28 days after acceptance of the offer.
(9) An offer is taken to have been made without prejudice, unless the notice of offer otherwise provides.
(10) A party may make more than one offer in relation to the same claim.
(11) Unless the court orders otherwise, an offer may not be withdrawn during the period of acceptance for the offer.
(12) A notice of offer that purports to exclude, modify or restrict the operation of rule 42.14 or 42.15 is of no effect for the purposes of this Division. [Emphasis added.]

Pursuant to UCPR r 20.27, a party may accept an offer by serving written notice of acceptance on the offeror at any time during the period of acceptance for the offer. An offer may be accepted even if a further offer is made during the period of acceptance for the first offer and if an offer is accepted in accordance with UCPR r 20.27, any party to the compromise may apply for judgment to be entered accordingly.
UCPR r 20.28 deals with the circumstances in which acceptance of an offer of compromise may be withdrawn by serving a written notice of withdrawal on the offeror. They are the offeror’s failure to do an act for which the offer of compromise provides, or, with the court’s leave (UCPR r 20.28(1)). If acceptance of an offer of compromise is withdrawn, pursuant to UCPR r 20.28(2), either all steps in the proceedings that have been taken as a consequence of the offer having been accepted cease to have effect (UCPR r 20.28(2)(a)), or in the circumstances referred to in UCPR r 20.28(2)(b), the court may give directions to provide for the further conduct of the proceedings.
UCPR r 20.29 deals with either party’s failure to comply with an accepted offer. If the plaintiff or defendant is the defaulter, the other party is entitled to such judgment or order as is appropriate to give effect to the terms of the accepted offer, or to an order that the proceedings be dismissed or the defence be struck out as the case may be, and to judgment accordingly, as the non-defaulting party elects, unless the court orders otherwise.
UCPR r 20.30(1) and (2) prevent, save in the circumstances set out in UCPR r 20.30(3) either party from disclosing that an offer has been made in any pleading or affidavit, or, if not accepted, from making any communication with respect to the offer to the court at the trial or, as the case may require, to the arbitrator.
UCPR r 42.14 deals with the costs consequences where an offer is made by the plaintiff, but not accepted by the defendant, and the plaintiff obtains an order or judgment on the claim no less favourable to the plaintiff than the terms of the offer. UCPR r 42.15 deals with the costs consequences where an offer is made by the defendant, but not accepted by the plaintiff, and the plaintiff obtains an order or judgment on the claim no more favourable to the plaintiff than the terms of the offer. UCPR r 42.15A deals with the circumstances in which the defendant’s offer is not accepted by the plaintiff and the defendant obtains an order or judgment on the claim no less favourable to the defendant than the terms of the offer.
In proceedings on a liquidated claim, a party has a defence of tender before commencement of the proceedings if the amount has been paid into court: UCPR r 14.25. If a party has paid money into court, the court may, in exercising its discretion as to costs, take into consideration both that fact and the amount of the payment: UCPR r 42.22. It is difficult to see how these provisions could apply in defamation cases which are claims for unliquidated damages.

Primary judgment

Before the primary judge (and in this court), Nationwide contended, as it had in its correspondence of 21 March 2018, that the second offer of amends was not open for acceptance on 21 March 2018, having been implicitly rejected by the second offer of compromise which it argued was a counteroffer.
Mr Vass accepted that under normal principles of contract a counteroffer rejected an offer. However, he submitted that the plain terms of the second offer of amends meant that the only way in which it would not be open for acceptance before trial was if it was withdrawn in writing by Nationwide, and it had not been. Accordingly, he argued, it was open to him to accept it before the trial commenced. [7]
7. Primary judgment at [16] – [18].
In her ex tempore judgment, the primary judge held that, “on the proper construction of the offer of amends provisions, the term during which an offer of amends remains open for acceptance remains at all times within the control of the party making the offer (who always retains the power to bring an offer to an end by withdrawing it in writing) and cannot be truncated by the making of a counteroffer by the aggrieved party.”[8] Her Honour held:

“26. The critical and determinative question in the present case is whether the making of an offer of compromise under the rules rejected the defendant’s renewed offer of amends by necessary implication. I do not think it should be understood in that way. Each kind of offer carried different consequences under their respective statutory regimes and … both regimes are expressly preserved under the Defamation Act. The making of an offer of amends under the Act potentially creates a complete defence. It makes sense in that context that such an offer should be required to remain open until expressly withdrawn in a formal way by the party making the offer. Conversely, it makes no sense for the term of the offer (which may be an aspect of its reasonableness) to be within the control of the aggrieved person rather than the party making the offer. The making of an offer of compromise under the rules is calculated to trigger a cost consequence. I do not think such an offer necessarily, by implication, rejects the making of an offer of amends under the Defamation Act, which is calculated to bring proceedings to an end or else avail the person making the offer of a complete defence.

27. It was open to the defendant upon receipt of the offer of compromise under the rules, or indeed at any other time, to withdraw the offer of amends in writing but that never occurred. It follows, in my view, that the offer remained open for acceptance at the time it was accepted …
28. The significant finding as sought by the parties is that the offer remained open to be accepted and, as a result, was validly accepted. It follows that there is an agreement between the parties to settle the proceedings, which obviates the need for the hearing and indeed renders it inappropriate for the hearing to proceed.”
8. Ibid at [24].

Accordingly, her Honour declared that, “as at 21 March 2018, the defendant’s renewed offer of amends dated 9 May 2017 remained open to be accepted by the plaintiff and that the letter dated 21 March 2018 from the plaintiff to the defendant constituted valid acceptance of that offer.” She vacated the hearing date and ordered Nationwide to pay Mr Vass’s costs of the application.

Issues on appeal

The issues raised in Nationwide’s notice of appeal are whether the primary judge erred in:

Declaring that the second offer of amends remained open to be accepted by Mr Vass as at 21 March 2018; and that Mr Vass’s letter dated 21 March 2018 to Nationwide constituted valid acceptance of that offer.

Holding that the second offer of compromise did not constitute a rejection of the second offer of amends.

Failing to hold that the service of the second offer of compromise constituted an implicit rejection of the second offer of amends with the consequence that that offer was not open for acceptance as at 21 March 2018.

Holding that, on the proper construction of the amends provisions, the term during which an offer to make amends remains open for acceptance cannot be truncated by the making of a counteroffer by the aggrieved party.

Apparently holding that the only way in which to bring an offer to make amends made under the amends provisions to an end is by the withdrawal of that offer in writing.

Failing to give adequate reasons in support of the declarations made.

Appellant’s submissions

Nationwide’s primary contention is that the second offer of amends was not open for acceptance because Mr Vass had rejected it when he served the second offer of compromise. A second contention advanced in its written submissions, that the primary judge’s declaration was tainted by misrepresentations made by Mr Vass prior to the making of the second offer of amends, was not pressed in oral argument.
Nationwide’s essential submission is that, while the amends provisions introduce a novel defence to the publication of otherwise indefensible matter, they do not alter the law governing the formation of contracts. It submits that s 12(3) makes it clear that the amends provisions are not exhaustive or exclusive in relation to offer and acceptance. Nationwide contends that just as under the general law an offer terminates upon its rejection by the offeree, and that a counteroffer is an implied rejection of the offer, so, too, the second offer of compromise should be treated as an implied rejection of the second offer of amends.
Nationwide accepts that a rejected offer can remain operative if it is repeated, or otherwise revived, or if in the circumstances it should be treated as remaining on foot and available for acceptance notwithstanding its rejection. [9] However, Nationwide submits that there was no statement in the second offer of amends that it would be revived or repeated, if rejected, and words to that effect should not be implied. Nor, Nationwide argued, could it be said that its conduct gave rise to any reasonable belief on Mr Vass’s part (or on the part of a person in his position) that the second offer of amends remained open for acceptance after its rejection by service of the second offer of compromise.
9. See Brambles Holdings v Bathurst City Council (2001) 53 NSWLR 153; [2001] NSWCA 61 (Brambles) at [80] per Heydon JA (as his Honour then was).
Secondly, Nationwide submits that nothing in the 2005 Act mandates that a rejected offer of amends must be treated as remaining open notwithstanding its rejection.
Thirdly, Nationwide submits that the primary judge failed to give reasons for her apparent conclusion that the only way to bring an offer of amends to an end is by the offeror withdrawing it. It contends that such a conclusion is inconsistent with Applegarth J’s reasons in Pingel v Toowoomba Newspapers Pty Ltd,[10] where his Honour said that negotiations triggered by an offer to make amends may be brought to an end by, relevantly, “the commencement of proceedings (which may be interpreted as a rejection of the offer).”
10. [2010] QCA 175 (Pingel) at [104].
Fourthly, Nationwide argues that in contrast to UCPR r 20.26, which it contends expressly modifies the general law relating to offer and acceptance, the 2005 Act does not purport to do likewise. Rather, Nationwide contends the 2005 Act regulates the circumstances in which the “novel” defence will be available. Nationwide accepts that offers of compromise are used to protect a party’s costs exposure should a matter proceed to trial. However, it contends that the second offer of compromise was a “clear repudiation of the acceptability” to Mr Vass of the second offer of amends, and that the second offer of compromise did not constitute a bona fide attempt to compromise the dispute between the parties but, rather, was a clear indication that Mr Vass intended to have his case heard and determined by the court.

Respondent’s submissions

Mr Vass submits that the primary judge’s reasoning is sound and essentially holds Nationwide to the terms of its own offer: that it remained to be accepted unless withdrawn in writing. Accordingly, it remained open to be accepted, by his letter of 21 March 2018.
Secondly, Mr Vass submits that traditional theories of offer and acceptance are not applicable to every contract, and are not applicable in this case particularly having regard to the terms of the second offer of amends, and the amends provisions. [11]
11. Citing Brambles at [71] – [83].
Mr Vass submits that Nationwide chose the terms in which it expressed the second offer of amends. It could have made it clear that it would be treated as rejected if Mr Vass made an offer of compromise. He argued that it was improbable Nationwide would have taken that step, however, as it would risk losing its s 18 defence.
Thirdly, Mr Vass argued that the 2005 Act does not contemplate the “rejection” of an offer of amends. Rather, it deals with the making of an offer, the withdrawal of an offer, the making of a “renewed offer” and the consequence of accepting an offer or renewed offer. Mr Vass submits those elements are consistent with the concept of an offer of amends being the making of the offer by the publisher, which if reasonable, provides a complete defence if the offer is “not accepted”.
Fourthly, Mr Vass submits that the second offer of compromise did not amount to a “counteroffer”. He says it was made under UCPR r 20.26 and the 2005 Act makes it clear that its provisions stand apart from, and do not prevent, parties from using other settlement or negotiation mechanisms.
Fifthly, Mr Vass submits an offer of amends under the 2005 Act can only be withdrawn by notice in writing: s 16(1). Notwithstanding this, Mr Vass conceded that while it may not necessarily follow that no other means of withdrawal can ever be available, the 2005 Act contains nothing which would indicate that any other means would suffice, or that an offer of amends could be rendered inoperative, a step necessary to make good Nationwide’s argument. Mr Vass pointed out that a “renewed” offer may only replace a “withdrawn” offer (s 16(2)) and there is no provision for a “renewed” offer replacing an earlier offer which had somehow become inoperative because an earlier offer had lapsed or been rejected.
Sixthly, Mr Vass submits that the second offer of compromise was not, nor was it treated by Nationwide as being, a rejection of the second offer of amends or of causing that offer to lapse. Rather, he argues Nationwide delivered its second offer of amends “in response” to his first offer of compromise. He contends that Nationwide made it clear that it regarded the withdrawal of an offer of amends under the 2005 Act as a step which was within its power, rather than being a step which he could bring, or had brought, about.
Finally, Mr Vass submits that even if the second offer of compromise had the effect of constituting a “rejection” of the second offer of amends, the “rejected” offer “remained operative” because it should be treated as remaining available for acceptance “as the basis of mutual assent manifested by conduct”. [12]
12. Citing Brambles at [80].

Consideration

The starting point for the ascertainment of the meaning of the amends provisions is their text, having regard to their context and purpose,[13] using “context” in its widest sense to include such things as the existing state of the law. [14] Considerations of context and purpose recognise that, understood in its statutory, historical or other context, some other meaning of a word may be suggested, and so too, if its ordinary meaning is not consistent with the statutory purpose, that meaning must be rejected. [15]
13. SZTAL v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection [2017] HCA 34; (2017) 91 ALJR 936 (SZTAL) at [14] per Kiefel CJ, Nettle and Gordon JJ; see also [35] – [39] per Gageler J; Mighty River International Ltd v Hughes; Mighty River International Ltd v Mineral Resources Ltd [2018] HCA 38; (2018) 92 ALJR 822 at [42] per Kiefel CJ and Edelman J.
14. CIC Insurance Ltd v Bankstown Football Club Ltd (1997) 187 CLR 384 at 408; [1997] HCA 2 per Brennan CJ, Dawson, Toohey and Gummow JJ; Regional Express Holdings Ltd v Australian Federation of Air Pilots [2017] HCA 55; (2017) 92 ALJR 134 at [19] per Kiefel CJ, Keane, Nettle, Gordon and Edelman JJ.
15. SZTAL at [14].
Nationwide’s submissions invoke the principle that a statute should not be construed as departing from the general system of law unless it does so with “irresistible clearness”. [16]
16. Malika Holdings Pty Ltd v Stretton (2001) 204 CLR 290; [2001] HCA 14 (Malika) at [27] per McHugh J; see also Hocking v Western Australian Bank (1909) 9 CLR 738 at 746; [1909] HCA 68; Melbourne Corporation v Barry (1922) 31 CLR 174 at 206; [1922] HCA 56 per Higgins J.
However, “the reach of the regulatory state [is such] that it is now difficult to assume that the legislature would not infringe rights or interfere with the general system of law”. [17] Accordingly, “a much surer guide to the legislative intention in areas of legislation dealing with ordinary rights or the general system of law is to construe the language of the enactment in its natural and ordinary meaning, having regard to its context – which will include other provisions of the enactment, its history and the state of the law – as well as the purpose which the enactment seeks to achieve.”[18] In the final analysis, “[t]he assistance to be gained from a presumption will vary with the context in which it is applied.”[19]
17. Malika at [29].
18. Ibid at [30]; see also Gifford v Strang Patrick Stevedoring Pty Ltd (2003) 214 CLR 269; [2003] HCA 33 (Gifford) at [36].
19. Electrolux Home Products Pty Ltd v Australian Workers’ Union (2004) 221 CLR 309; [2004] HCA 40 (Electrolux) at [19].

Common law

Carter and Harland state that at common law (footnotes included with additions):[20]

“An offer is terminated once rejected by the offeree. [21] The offeror is in such circumstances entitled to assume that the offer is no longer open to acceptance and that there is therefore no necessity to revoke it if no longer wishing to contract on the terms of the offer. A counter-offer is treated as impliedly rejecting an offer. [22] Of course, an offeree will often reject an offer by making a counter-offer on terms more favourable to the offeree in the hope that the original offeror will accept them. The original offeror may well reject the counteroffer, but in terms which indicate that the original offer is still open. In such a case the offeror has renewed that original offer and the offeree may accept, but only because following the rejection the offeror chose to repeat the offer.”[23]
20. Contract Law in Australia (3rd ed, 1996, Butterworths) at [251].
21. Electrolux; Stevenson Jaques & Co v McLean (1880) 5 QBD 346; Khlad v Athanas Bros (Aden) Ltd (1967); 1 BPR 9310 (PC) (Khlad).
22. Hyde v Wrench [1840] 49 ER 132; Baker v Taylor (1906) 6 SR (NSW) 500; Harris v Jenkins [1922] SASR 59. See also Transmetro Corp Ltd v Davy and Ors [2005] QCA 239 at [37] per Muir J (McMurdo P and Philippides J agreeing).
23. Sheffield Canal Co v Sheffield and Rotherham Ry Co (1841) Ry & Can Cas 121; Livingstone v Evans [1925] 4 DLR 769; Khaled. See also Retek Pty Ltd v First Edition Properties Pty Ltd [2003] QSC 007 at [63] per Muir J.

According to Seddon and Ellinghaus, anything other than unreserved assent to an offer in the exact terms proposed by the offeror, attracts the “mirror principle”, that is to say “in the eyes of the law is to destroy the original offer”, and make a counteroffer. [24] However, courts are prepared to show a more flexible approach to the matching of offer and acceptance where the mirror approach would be inappropriate. Thus, the mere adding of some detail in the acceptance that does not affect the terms of the offer does not amount to a counteroffer. [25]
24. Cheshire and Fifoot’s Law of Contract (8th ed, 2002, LexisNexis Butterworths) at [3.25].
25. Carter v Hyde (1923) 33 CLR 115; [1923] HCA 36 see also Quadling v Robinson (1976) 137 CLR 192 at 200 – 201; [1976] HCA 31 per Gibbs J, referred to with approval in Hagerty v Hills Central Pty Ltd [2018] NSWCA 200 at [36] per Leeming JA (McColl and Macfarlan JJA agreeing).
In Brambles, Heydon JA stated that, “[w]hile the process by which many contracts are arrived at is reducible to an analysis turning on the making of an offer, the rejection of the offer by a counteroffer and so on until the last counteroffer is accepted, that analysis is neither sufficient to explain all cases nor necessary to explain all cases”. [26] Thus, his Honour observed:

“80 If offer and acceptance analysis is not always necessary or sufficient, principles such as the general principle that a rejection of an offer brings it to an end cannot be universal. A rejected offer could remain operative if it were repeated, or otherwise revived, or if in the circumstances it should for some other reason be treated, despite its rejection, as remaining on foot, available for acceptance, or for adoption as the basis of mutual assent manifested by conduct.” [Emphasis added.]

Context: legislative history

26. At [71].

Div 8 of the Defamation Act 1974 (NSW)

As originally enacted, Pt 3 (Defence in Civil Proceedings), Div 8 of the Defamation Act 1974 (NSW) (1974 Act) provided an offer of amends procedure in relation to what was termed an “innocent” publication. By virtue of s 36, to be “innocent” in substance required all persons concerned with the matter in question or its publication to demonstrate they had exercised reasonable care in relation to the matter in question and its publication, did not intend the matter to be defamatory of the putative plaintiff and did not know of circumstances by reason of which the matter in question was or might be defamatory of that person. Where the publisher published defamatory matter, the publisher could make an offer of amends. Section 37(2)(a) – (c) set out matters which “must” be contained in an offer.
Pursuant to s 40, where an offer made pursuant to Div 8 was accepted and the agreement arising by its acceptance performed, the offeree was prohibited from commencing or continuing any proceedings against the offeror for damages for defamation in respect of the matter in question. Where an offeree did not accept a Div 8 offer, pursuant to s 43 the publisher had, in substance, a defence of innocent publication in proceedings by the offeree against the offeror for damages for defamation in respect of the matter in question. Pursuant to s 45, an agreement arising by acceptance of a Div 8 offer did not have any effect in law except as specified in Div 8, and except so far as a contrary intention appeared in the agreement.
Division 8 was based on s 4 of the Defamation Act 1952 (UK) (1952 Act). As explained by the authors of the Report of the Law Reform Commission on Defamation which recommended the adoption of Div 8, [27] it proceeded “on the view that in the case of defamation which is unintentional and not careless, the defamed person is sufficiently vindicated by the publication of a correction or apology and that, if steps are taken to stop further dissemination of the defamatory matter and the costs and expenses of the defamed person are paid, he ought not to be entitled to damages.” The authors commented that the test of “innocence” for which Div 8 provided was “a severe one”. This was necessary in their view “because the Division makes a major inroad upon the general strict liability for defamation at common law.”[28]
27. New South Wales Law Reform Commission, Report 11, (1971) at [212].
28. Ibid at [214].
The only case in which a defence under Div 8 of the 1974 Act was substantively in issue was Mirror Newspapers Limited v Fitzpatrick. [29] In that case the defendant published an article that the plaintiff, an actress, had appeared on a television show at a time when she was scheduled to take part in the shooting of a film. In fact, on the day in question, the plaintiff advised those shooting the film she was unable to attend because she was unwell. She had not appeared on the television show. The plaintiff complained successfully, among other imputations, that the article conveyed imputations that she had lied about her health. The defendant had made an offer of amends pursuant to s 36 of the 1974 Act which complied with s 37(2)(a) and (b), but not s 37(2)(c). The plaintiff did not accept the offer of amends. Accordingly, the defendant pleaded a defence pursuant to s 43 of the 1974 Act. The trial judge rejected it on the basis that the offer of amends did not comply with s 37(2)(c).
29. [1984] 1 NSWLR 643 (Fitzpatrick).
On appeal, the defendant challenged his Honour’s ruling. It contended that s 37(2)(c) was not mandatory and, in any event, that there had been substantial, and therefore sufficient, compliance with its terms. [30] The Court rejected that submission, holding that the effect of s 37(2)(c) meant the defendant could not avail itself of the s 43 defence. [31] Samuels JA also held that the inclusion in an offer of amends of the three matters for which s 37(2) provided was mandatory “in the sense that the stipulated elements must be covered in the offer of amends”, however “it might be enough if the offer fairly covered all ingredients, although departing in some respects from the words of the subsection.” [32]
30. Ibid at 652 per Samuels JA.
31. See Hutley JA at 650; Samuels JA at 651 – 652; Priestley JA at 664 – 665.
32. At 652.
Division 8 was barely used. There has been no case other than Fitzpatrick until the repeal of Div 8 in 2002 which has contributed to the jurisprudence concerning its application. [33]
33. Fitzpatrick also concerned the circumstances in which aggravated damages may be awarded in defamation and is the reason it is most frequently cited: see, for example, Hockey v Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd (2015) 237 FCR 33; [2015] FCA 652 at [446] per White J; Wagner v Harbour Radio Pty Ltd [2018] QSC 201 at [743] per Flanagan J.

The English provisions

Like Div 8, s 4 of the 1952 Act was little used. [34] According to May LJ, the lack of recourse to s 4 was because it placed such a heavy burden on defendants. Indeed according to his Lordship it was never used. [35] Almost four decades after its enactment, the authors of the Report on Practice and Procedure in Defamation, observed that “from the combined practical experience of the legal members of this Committee (over 100 years) none of us is able to think of a single instance where the defence has been successfully advanced.” [36]
34. Professor A Mullis and R Parkes QC, Gatley on Libel and Slander (12th ed, 2013, Sweet & Maxwell) (Gatley) at [19.1]; Second Reading Speech, Defamation Amendment Bill, New South Wales Legislative Assembly, Parliamentary Debates (Hansard), 12 November 2002 (2002 Second Reading Speech) at 6558 – 6559.
35. Milne v Express Newspapers [2005] 1 All ER 1021; [2004] EWCA 664 at [19].
36. England and Wales, Supreme Court Procedure Committee, (July 1991) (Neill Report) at Pt VII, [11].

The Neill Report expressed the view that it was “desirable to have some more streamlined defence [than s 4 of the 1952 Act] available (rather than merely the opportunity of mitigating damages) in circumstances where a defendant has behaved fairly and reasonably after the tort has been committed.” [37] It recommended that the offer of amends defence not be limited to innocent publications. [38] Rather, the defence should address “the situation where a plaintiff has admittedly been wronged and the defendant is willing to do whatever is reasonable to restore his damaged reputation.” [39]
37.    Ibid at Pt VII, [12].
38.    Ibid at Pt VII, [14(iii)].
39.    Ibid at Pt VII, [27].
Section 4 of the 1952 Act was repealed from February 2000 and replaced by Ch 31 of the Defamation Act 1996 (UK) (1996 Act), ss 2 – 4 of which dealt with offers of amends (English provisions) with effect on and from 28 February 2000. Although conceptually the English provisions originated in the Neill Report, the Neill Report recommendations had been the subject of “detailed amendment” prior to enactment. [40]
40. Gatley at [19.2], footnote 9; see also Abu v MGN Limited [2003] 1 WLR 2201; [2002] EWHC 2345 (QB) (Abu v MGN) at [10], [18] per Eady J, one of the authors of the Neill Report; Tesco Stores Ltd v Guardian News & Media Ltd [2009] EMLR 5; [2008] EWHC 1314 (QB) (Tesco Stores) at [20] – [25], [44] per Eady J.
The objective of the English provisions was “to enable media defendants who had made a mistake to avoid prolonged and expensive litigation in circumstances where they were prepared to acknowledge the wrong and were willing to make reasonable amends.”[41] It was also to provide a mechanism for the claimant’s reputation to be restored in respect of the allegations complained of by “a relatively speedy and relatively inexpensive disposal of a complaint of injury to reputation, where the defendant was prepared to acknowledge that it had published defamatory allegations which were essentially inaccurate.” [42]
41. Abu v MGN Limited at [4].
42. Tesco Stores at [14] – [15], [44] per Eady J.
The English provisions were the genesis of the offer of amends provisions introduced in New South Wales in 2002 by amendment to the 1974 Act (2002 amendments) to which I refer below. [43] The 2002 amendments, in turn, were substantially the basis for Pt 3 of the 2005 Act.
43. Albeit that it is apparent that the 2002 amendments were based on offer of amends provisions in the Defamation Act 2001 (ACT) which came into effect on 1 July 2002: see Defamation Law: Proposals for Reform in NSW: Report of Attorney General’s Task Force on Defamation Law Reform, (April 2002) at 6 – 7; Dr Matt Collins, “New Defamation Law for the ACT” (2001) 6 Media & Arts Law Review 335 at 336.
A brief account of the English provisions is necessary because similarities with the amends provisions make English jurisprudence relevant. While there are similarities, there are also differences. However the fundamental structure of the amends provisions, insofar as offer, acceptance and failure to accept an offer of amends are concerned, reflects the English provisions.
Section 2 of the 1996 Act deals with making an offer to make amends. Section 2(3) specifies the matters which must be included in an offer. Unlike the amends provisions, an offer of amends under the 1996 Act is an offer to pay to the aggrieved party such compensation (if any), and such costs, as may be agreed or determined to be payable: s 2(4)(c). An offer to make amends may not be made after a defence has been served: s 2(5). It may be withdrawn before it is accepted. A renewal of an offer which has been withdrawn is treated as a new offer: s 2(6).
Section 3 deals with the consequences of the aggrieved party accepting an offer. As with the amends provisions, in such circumstances the aggrieved party may not bring or continue defamation proceedings in respect of the publication concerned against the person making the offer, but is entitled to enforce the offer as specified in the section.
Section 4(1) deals with the circumstances in which an offer to make amends under s 2 has been “duly made and not withdrawn” and “is not accepted by the aggrieved party”. In those circumstances, pursuant to s 4(2), the fact that the offer was made is a defence (subject to s 4(3), which appears in substance to preclude a defence if the plaintiff proves the publication was not innocent in the original s 4(1) sense) to defamation proceedings in respect of the publication in question by that person against the person making the offer. Pursuant to s 4(4), while the person who made the offer need not rely on it by way of defence, if that person does no other defence may be advanced. [44] No such limitation applied under the 2002 amendments, nor does it apply under Pt 3 of the 2005 Act.
44. In Tesco Stores at [17], Eady J said the reason a defendant relying on a s 4(2) defence was precluded from relying on any other defence such as qualified privilege, justification or fair comment was because the making of an offer of amends itself recognised that the claimant had been wronged by the publication and was entitled to be compensated.
Section 4(5) of the English provisions also expressly provides that the offer to make amends may be relied on in mitigation of damages, whether or not it was relied on as a defence. Once again, no similar express provision appears in Pt 3 of the 2005 Act. However, at common law, and pursuant to s 38(a) of the 2005 Act, a defendant may rely in mitigation of damages both on the fact that the defendant has apologised to the plaintiff about the publication of the defamatory matter, or that the defendant published a correction of the defamatory matter, both of which are matters which may or must be included in an offer of amends.

2002 Amendments

The 1974 Act was amended by the Defamation Amendment Act 2002 (NSW) (2002 Amendment Act) to introduce a new Part 2A, “Resolution of disputes without litigation” (2002 amendments), which came into effect on 25 August 2003. [45] The 2002 amendments were based on the report of an Attorney General’s Task Force. [46] The object of Pt 2A, as set out in s 9A, was “to encourage the early settlement of disputes involving the publication of defamatory matter.” In the 2002 Second Reading Speech to the Defamation Amendment Bill which became the 2002 Amendment Act, the Parliamentary Secretary, Mr Stewart, described “a clear priority” of the proposed amendments as being “to divert those cases that can be dealt with by other means away from extended litigation”. [47]
45. Part 3, Div 8 was repealed at the same time.
46. 2002 Second Reading Speech at 6558.
47. Ibid.
It is unnecessary to delve into the details of the 2002 amendments. It is sufficient in my view to note that they used the language of “offer”, “accept” and “failure to accept”, but not “reject”.

2005 Act

In the Second Reading Speech to the Defamation Bill which became the 2005 Act the Attorney General, the Hon Bob Debus, confirmed that Pt 3 re-enacted, with some drafting and other minor modifications, Pt 2A of the 1974 Act. He emphasised that the amends procedure may be used instead of rules of court or other laws that relate to payment into court or offers of compromise as being “important because these types of provisions tend to be available only once litigation has started”. He also pointed out the significance of the fact that the amends procedure did not preclude the making or acceptance of other settlement offers as “ensur[ing] that parties have every conceivable opportunity to settle their differences before proceeding to trial”. [48]
48. New South Wales Legislative Assembly, Parliamentary Debates (Hansard), 13 September 2005 at 17637.

Pt 3, Div 1 of the 2005 Act: the text

As explained by the Attorney General, and, in any event, as is manifest from the text of Pt 3, Div 1 of the 2005 Act, the amends provisions were perceived by the legislature as but one of the options available to the parties (or potential parties) to a defamation action to seek either to resolve their differences without litigation, or to seek to ameliorate the outcome in the event litigation was commenced.
Like Div 8 of the 1974 Act, [49] the amends provisions create a statutory scheme which may be used “instead” of the provisions of any rules of court or any other law in relation to payment into court or offers of compromise (s 12(2)). Nothing prevents a publisher or aggrieved person from making or accepting a settlement offer in relation to the publication of the matter in question “otherwise” than in accordance with the amends provisions (s 12(3)). In awarding costs in defamation proceedings, s 40 permits the court to have regard to the respective parties conduct in relation to any settlement offer made before the proceedings are determined, which includes an offer to make amends.
49. See Fitzpatrick at 662 per Priestley JA.
In this case, for example, Nationwide sought to characterise its offers of amends as being both a defence pursuant to s 18 of the 2005 Act and, too, as being “without prejudice save as to costs” coupled with a statement in the body of the offer of its intention also to rely upon the offer to attract an award of indemnity costs pursuant to either s 40 of the 2005 Act or the principles in Calderbank v Calderbank [50] and Cutts v Head. [51]
50. [1976] Fam 93; [1975] 3 WLR 586.
51. [1984] Ch 290.
Although the provisions of any rules of court or any other law in relation to payment into court or offers of compromise may be used instead of the amends provisions, there is a temporal difference, albeit with a degree of overlap insofar as the amends provisions are concerned, between the statutory and common law regimes’ operation.
The clear intent of the introduction of the amends provisions being to promote speedy and non-litigious methods of resolving disputes about the publication of defamatory matter (s 3(d), 2005 Act), the amends provisions operate primarily prior to the commencement of defamation litigation. Where the publisher carries out the terms of an offer to make amends (including payment of any compensation under the offer) that is accepted, an aggrieved person is precluded from asserting, continuing or enforcing an action for defamation against the publisher in relation to the matter in question even if the offer was limited to any particular defamatory imputations (s 17(1)).
In contrast, statutory provisions dealing with offers of compromise or payment into court are only available to parties to litigation. [52]
52. However, a Calderbank offer could be made before litigation is commenced with the intent to encourage compromise: Cutts v Head at 310 per Oliver LJ, applying Computer Machinery Co Ltd v Drescher [1983] 1 WLR 1379 at 1383 per Sir Robert Megarry V-C.
Under the amends provisions, the plaintiff bears, or potentially bears, almost the entire “burden” of the amends procedure, whether or not he or she accepts such an offer. Loss of the cause of action is one illustration. The plaintiff also faces the risk if an offer of amends is not accepted, that the defendant has a further defence to the proceedings if the circumstances for which s 18 provides are established.
As the primary judge observed, the amends provisions “are to be construed as deliberately imposing a very draconian consequence on a plaintiff who does not accept a reasonable offer to make amends, namely, the loss of the cause of action.”[53] Fryberg J spoke to like effect in Pingel,[54] observing that Pt 3, Div 1 “confers substantial tactical advantages upon publishers with corresponding disadvantages to aggrieved persons”.
53. Primary judgment at [19].
54. At [63].
One qualification to the proposition that the plaintiff bears almost the entire burden of the amends provisions, is that there is a limit on the publisher’s ability to make repeated offers of amends. An offer to make amends may be withdrawn simpliciter: s 16(1). However, while a renewed offer whether or not in the same terms as the withdrawn offer may be made (s 16(3)), it appears that must be done within the time limit specified in s 14 for the making of offers to make amends. Further while it appears repeated renewed offers may be made if they represent a genuine attempt by the publisher to address matters of concern raised by the aggrieved person about the withdrawn offer (s 16(5)(a)), they must be made within 14 days after the withdrawal of the withdrawn offer or any other period agreed by the publisher and the aggrieved person: s 16(5)(b).
This stands in stark contrast to the common law where the parties are unlimited as to the rounds of offers and counteroffers which may be made and, of course, either party may make a new offer or counteroffer whether or not the previous offer or counteroffer as the case may be has been expressly or impliedly rejected, and the other party’s agreement to making another offer need not be sought.
As Fryberg J concluded in Pingel, “[p]resumably the intention of the legislation is to increase the pressure on aggrieved persons to accept a negotiated settlement and by that mechanism indirectly promote dispute resolution by negotiation rather than litigation.”[55]
55. At [64].
The strictures the amends provisions impose support the proposition that they establish a discrete scheme, compliance with which depends upon taking the steps for which it provides and with which the alternative means of resolving litigation referred to in s 12(2) and s 12(3) do not intersect, save to the extent that all attempts to settle may be brought to bear pursuant to s 40.
Nationwide’s principal contention turns on the proposition that by serving the second offer of compromise, Mr Vass “rejected” the second offer of amends in the sense in which that word is used in common law offer and acceptance analysis. Like the 2002 amendments, the amends provisions do use words conceptually common to the common law of contract such as “offer”, “accept” and “not accept[ed]”, but do not use the word “reject”. That alone is not an insuperable obstacle to Nationwide’s contention.
In Tesco Stores,[56] Eady J, writing in relation to the English provisions, referred to the fact that “the statute refers only to an offer being accepted or not being accepted”. They do not use the term “rejected”, but his Honour expressed the view, “that is plainly what Parliament had in mind.” When considering, in the absence of time limits in the English provisions, when a claimant could be taken to have “rejected” an offer of amends, his Honour held that “[b]y analogy with the law of contract, it is reasonable to suppose that the decision to accept or reject must be taken within a reasonable period. What is ‘reasonable’ is likely to depend on the particular circumstances of the case.”[57]
56. Tesco Stores at [36].
57. Ibid at [42].
Applegarth J applied a similar approach in Pingel, when he observed that “if [an] offer is not accepted within the specified time then it will have been ‘not accepted’ or ‘refused’, potentially engaging a s 18 defence.” [58] In his Honour’s view, negotiations concerning an offer to make amends might be brought to an end by formal acceptance or rejection of the offer, the commencement of proceedings (which may be interpreted as a rejection of the offer) or the withdrawal of the offer. [59]
58. At [102] [footnote omitted].
59. At [104], I deal with the significance of the commencement of litigation below: at [116] – [118].
I agree with Eady J and Applegarth J. A plaintiff’s failure to accept an offer of amends within the specified time or otherwise than in accordance with its terms is tantamount to its rejection. However that does not necessarily lead to the consequence for which Nationwide contends concerning the application of general law contractual principles in determining the effect of the second offer of compromise.
I consider the scant authority on this point later in these reasons.

Offers of compromise

The compromise provisions also create a statutory scheme. That scheme bears some similarity to the amends provisions. The compromise provisions prescribe the contents of the offer (UCPR r 20.26(2)), the period during which it may be accepted (UCPR r 20.26(5)) and the circumstances in which it may be withdrawn (UCPR r 20.26(11)), and in which acceptance of an offer may be withdrawn, and the consequences of withdrawal of an acceptance (UCPR r 20.27). They also enable judgement to be entered against the defaulting party in the event of failure to comply with an accepted offer (UCPR r 20.29). The complementary provisions in UCPR Pt 42 dealing with the costs consequences of non-acceptance of an offer and the obtaining of a judgment no more or less favourable to the offeror or the offeree cannot be excluded (UCPR r 20.26(12)).
In Berowra Holdings Pty Ltd v Gordon, Gleeson CJ, Gummow, Hayne, Heydon and Crennan JJ stated that an offer of compromise made pursuant to a “regime” established by rules of court, acquired a significance which a settlement offer made under ordinary contractual principles would not have attracted. [60] Accordingly, a party which had made an offer of compromise pursuant to the rules had no entitlement as of right to withdraw it but, rather, required the favourable exercise of a judicial discretion pursuant to the relevant rule to that effect. [61] In addition, in their Honours’ view, it was incorrect to analyse an offer of compromise made and accepted pursuant to such rules in purely contractual terms. [62]
60. (2006) 225 CLR 364; [2006] HCA 32 (Berowra Holdings) at [44].
61. At [45].
62. Ibid at [55].
Strict compliance with the compromise provisions is required. As first made, UCPR r 20.26(2) provided that “[a]n offer must be exclusive of costs, except where it states that it is a verdict for the defendant and that the parties are to bear their own costs.” Offers of compromise which included costs offers were held not to comply with the rule because they were inconsistent with the scheme for the making of offers of compromise and could have the effect of depriving the offeree of a right which was part of the scheme. [63] Accordingly, the correct course for an offeree receiving such an offer of compromise was “to regard the purported offer as having no force at all”. [64]
63. Whitney v Dream Developments Pty Ltd (2013) 84 NSWLR 311; [2013] NSWCA 188 (Whitney) at [25] – [27] per Bathurst CJ, Beazley P, McColl JA and Emmett AJA agreeing; see also Barrett JA at [51] – [52], Beazley P and McColl JA agreeing.
64. Ibid at [59] per Barrett JA.
However, an offer that did not comply with Pt 52, r 17 of the Supreme Court Rules 1970 (NSW) (the precursors of the compromise provisions in the UCPR) was not invalid. Rather it did not take effect under the Rules. [65] If appropriately worded, it could operate as a Calderbank offer. [66] Such an offer was made “outside the scheme” for which the compromise provisions provided. [67]
65. Associated Confectionery (Aust) Ltd v Mineral and Chemical Traders Pty Ltd (1991) 25 NSWLR 349 at 350 -351 per Giles J; see also Trustee for the Salvation Army (NSW) Property Trust t/as Salvation Army v Becker (No 2) [2007] NSWCA 194 (Trustee for the Salvation Army) per Ipp JA (Mason P and McColl JA agreeing) at [23] – [24]; see also Dean v Stockland Property Management Pty Ltd (No 2) [2010] NSWCA 141 at [31].
66. Trustee for the Salvation Army at [27]; Whitney at [42], [57] – [60].
67. Whitney at [55] per Barrett JA; see also Emmett AJA at [75].

Context: previous cases in Australia

The only Australian case in which consideration has been given to the question whether the common law principles relating to offer and acceptance should be applied in the interpretation of the amends provisions is Barrow v Ackland & Gibson,[68] a decision of Judicial Registrar Matthews in the Supreme Court of Victoria.
68. [2017] VSC 485 (Barrow).

(d)   must include an offer to publish, or join in publishing, a reasonable correction of the matter in question or, if the offer is limited to any particular defamatory imputations, the imputations to which the offer is limited, and
(e)   if material containing the matter has been given to someone else by the publisher or with the publisher’s knowledge—must include an offer to take, or join in taking, reasonable steps to tell the other person that the matter is or may be defamatory of the aggrieved person, and
(f)   must include an offer to pay the expenses reasonably incurred by the aggrieved person before the offer was made and the expenses reasonably incurred by the aggrieved person in considering the offer, and
(g)   may include any other kind of offer, or particulars of any other action taken by the publisher, to redress the harm sustained by the aggrieved person because of the matter in question, including (but not limited to):
(i)  an offer to publish, or join in publishing, an apology in relation to the matter in question or, if the offer is limited to any particular defamatory imputations, the imputations to which the offer is limited, or
(ii)  an offer to pay compensation for any economic or non-economic loss of the aggrieved person, or
(iii)  the particulars of any correction or apology made, or action taken, before the date of the offer.
(2)   Without limiting subsection (1)(g)(ii), an offer to pay compensation may comprise or include any one or more of the following:
(a)   an offer to pay a stated amount,
(b)   an offer to pay an amount to be agreed between the publisher and the aggrieved person,
(c)   an offer to pay an amount determined by an arbitrator appointed, or agreed on, by the publisher and the aggrieved person,
(d)   an offer to pay an amount determined by a court.

Neither par 15(1)(g) nor subs (2) involves mandatory elements, but they are relevant to later steps in the process.

There was no dispute that the applicant’s letter of 9 May 2017 constituted an offer to make amends within the terms of s 15. However, technically, it also constituted a “renewed offer” in circumstances provided for in s 16:

16   Withdrawal of offer to make amends
(1)   An offer to make amends may be withdrawn before it is accepted by notice in writing given to the aggrieved person.
(2)   A publisher who has withdrawn an offer to make amends may make a renewed offer.
(3)   A renewed offer may (but need not) be in the same terms as the withdrawn offer.
(4)   A renewed offer is to be treated as a new offer (including for the purposes of section 14).
(5) However, the time limit specified in section 14 for the making of offers to make amends does not prevent the making of a renewed offer that is not in the same terms as the withdrawn offer if:
(a)   the renewed offer represents a genuine attempt by the publisher to address matters of concern raised by the aggrieved person about the withdrawn offer, and
(b)   the renewed offer is made within 14 days after the withdrawal of the withdrawn offer or any other period agreed by the publisher and the aggrieved person.

There was no dispute that the letter of 9 May 2017 satisfied the various conditions for a “renewed offer”.

Relevantly for the purposes of s 16(4), s 14(1) imposed a time limit in the following terms:

14   When offer to make amends may be made
(1)   An offer to make amends cannot be made if:
(a)   28 days have elapsed since the publisher was given a concerns notice by the aggrieved person, or
(b)   a defence has been served in an action brought by the aggrieved person against the publisher in relation to the matter in question.

However, there was no dispute that the applicant’s renewed offer satisfied the requirements of s 16(5) and thus was not excluded by the time limit specified in s 14(1).

The next issue is the effect of making an offer. The Act addresses four possible circumstances. First, it makes provision for the acceptance of an offer in the following terms:

15   Content of offer to make amends
…
(3)   If an offer to make amends is accepted, a court may, on the application of the aggrieved person or publisher, determine:
(a)   if the offer provides for a court to determine the amount of compensation payable under the offer—the amount of compensation to be paid under the offer, and
(b)   any other question that arises about what must be done to carry out the terms of the offer.
…
17   Effect of acceptance of offer to make amends
(1)   If the publisher carries out the terms of an offer to make amends (including payment of any compensation under the offer) that is accepted, the aggrieved person cannot assert, continue or enforce an action for defamation against the publisher in relation to the matter in question even if the offer was limited to any particular defamatory imputations.

Putting to one side the precise effect of accepting an offer which was limited to particular defamatory imputations, it is clear that the effect of s 17(1) is to terminate the liability of the publisher for proceedings in defamation. Section 15(3) envisages that there may be consequential issues to be determined in order to carry out the terms of the offer.
Secondly, an offer may be withdrawn, but only by a notice in writing and only if it has not been accepted, in accordance with s 16(1). Thirdly, the Act provides for the consequences of non-acceptance.

18   Effect of failure to accept reasonable offer to make amends
(1)   If an offer to make amends is made in relation to the matter in question but is not accepted, it is a defence to an action for defamation against the publisher in relation to the matter if:
(a)   the publisher made the offer as soon as practicable after becoming aware that the matter is or may be defamatory, and
(b)   at any time before the trial the publisher was ready and willing, on acceptance of the offer by the aggrieved person, to carry out the terms of the offer, and
(c)   in all the circumstances the offer was reasonable.
(2)   In determining whether an offer to make amends is reasonable, a court:
(a)   must have regard to any correction or apology published before any trial arising out of the matter in question, including the extent to which the correction or apology is brought to the attention of the audience of the matter in question taking into account:
(i)   the prominence given to the correction or apology as published in comparison to the prominence given to the matter in question as published, and
(ii)   the period that elapses between publication of the matter in question and publication of the correction or apology, and
(b)   may have regard to:
(i)   whether the aggrieved person refused to accept an offer that was limited to any particular defamatory imputations because the aggrieved person did not agree with the publisher about the imputations that the matter in question carried, and
(ii)   any other matter that the court considers relevant.

While the chapeau in s 18(1) refers to an offer which is “not accepted”, subs (2)(b) refers to a refusal to accept an offer. That should be understood as one form of non-acceptance; alternatively, a plaintiff may fail to accept an offer simply by making no decision about it one way or the other. Nothing turns on that distinction for present purposes. Relevantly, however, s 18(2) envisages a dispute as to whether the offer was reasonable, requiring determination by a court.
The language of the two conditions set out in pars (a) and (b) of subs 18(1) is by no means clear. Thus, it is not clear whether par (a) imposes an additional condition which would not be satisfied merely by compliance with s 14(1). The matter might be of some importance where “the offer” is a renewed offer made in compliance with s 16(5) to which the time limit specified in s 14(1) does not apply.
The terms of s 18(1)(b) are also uncertain. The opening phrase “at any time before the trial” should be read to mean at any time before the trial while the offer was on foot. It has been held that that language does not exclude an offer to make amends being subject to a temporal limitation, so long as the temporal limitation was reasonable within the terms of par (c). It is not in doubt that the publisher does not have to prove it was ready and willing to carry out the terms of the offer at any point prior to making the offer; there is, however, a real question as to whether the publisher could rely upon an offer made for a limited period, ceasing well before the date of the trial, if it were ready and willing to carry out the terms of the offer only during that period. That would, at the very least, involve some variation of the actual language of par (b). The phrase “on acceptance of the offer” embraces the counterfactual contingency, namely that, although the offer has not been accepted, the fact of being ready and willing must be established. It is by no means clear that that conditional counterfactual limits the phrase “at any time before the trial”, to mean “at such time before the trial as the offer was on foot”.
This point of construction is not entirely irrelevant for present purposes. The applicant’s contention was that its offer ceased to be on foot once the respondent made a counter-offer under the UCPR. At that point, it was submitted, the offer had been refused and thereafter ceased to have effect. Thereafter, not only could the offer no longer be accepted, but it would presumably provide a defence upon which the publisher could rely, however short the period had been during which it was open, so long as the terms of the offer were themselves “reasonable” and it could demonstrate that it had been ready and willing to perform the terms of the offer if the offer had been accepted during the brief period during which it was open.
That would be a surprising reading of s 18(1).
It is also unclear what one should make of s 18(2)(a). The question of the reasonableness of the offer will surely arise, or at least could arise, before the trial because the publisher will seek to rely upon making the offer as a defence. The offer must, in accordance with s 15(1), include an offer to publish a reasonable correction and may include an offer to publish an apology. Of course, those steps can be taken independently of the offer, but will form part of the offer. If the offer provides a reasonable correction or apology, it is difficult to understand why the offer would not be reasonable, because the correction or apology has not been published before “any trial” which, curiously, is assumed to have occurred. It is, however, not necessary to address these difficulties for the purposes of this case.
The critical issue, namely termination of the offer before the time fixed for trial, is not expressly dealt with anywhere in Pt 3, other than in s 16(1) permitting an offer to be withdrawn before it is accepted by notice given in writing. Nor is there any express (or implied) reference to the rejection of an offer. Subject to one qualification noted below, the express rejection of an offer might be considered a good reason to allow the offer to be withdrawn by notice in writing, without rendering the terms of the offer unreasonable because the offer was withdrawn before the expiry of a reasonable period.
The qualification, which is important in the present case, concerns an offer which in its terms states that it will run until the trial and that it can only be withdrawn by notice in writing. There is at least an argument that even a clear rejection of the offer could not be relied upon as a ground for withdrawal if the offer itself did not permit such a course.
On one view, terms relating to the period within which the offer is said to be open and with respect to how it can be withdrawn are ineffective. To proffer such terms is to adopt the scheme of offers of compromise under the UCPR. The Defamation Act expressly provides that the provisions of the Division “may be used instead of the provisions of any rules of court or any other law in relation to payment into court or offers of compromise.”[96] As s 12 further provides, nothing in the Division “prevents a publisher or aggrieved person from making or accepting a settlement offer … otherwise than in accordance with the provisions of this Division.” The statutory scheme under Pt 3 Div 1 of the Defamation Act should therefore be seen to operate independently of the general provisions relating to offers of compromise and it is neither necessary nor appropriate to introduce into the Defamation Act concepts found within the UCPR.
96. Defamation Act, s 12(2) (emphasis added).
Further, it would appear to be consistent with the scheme of Pt 3 Div 1 that the offer will be open to be accepted at any time before the trial, as envisaged by s 18(1)(b). On that approach, s 16(1) provides the only basis upon which an offer will cease to operate, namely by the offer being withdrawn by notice in writing. Whether a publisher can unilaterally exclude its offer from the operation of s 16(1) need not be determined.
The alternative approach, permitting offers which are temporally limited, turns on reading s 16(1) merely as a precondition to the right to make a “renewed offer.” However, the fact that the renewed offer will be subject to the constraints imposed by s 14, unless the conditions in s 16(5) are satisfied, suggests that the power to withdraw should not be read down in that way. The limitations reflect an assumption that offers may be withdrawn in circumstances where they cannot be renewed. That is permitted, so long as the aggrieved person is given notice in writing. (The term “aggrieved person” will refer to the plaintiff in circumstances where proceedings have been commenced, but is clearly intended to operate prior to the commencement of proceedings.)

Case law

On the basis of this analysis of the terms of the Defamation Act, it is necessary to ask whether there is authority which precludes its adoption. The applicant contended that a contrary view to that outlined above was taken by Applegarth J in Pingel v Toowoomba Newspapers Pty Ltd. [97]
97. [2010] QCA 175.
The claimant in Pingel believed she had been defamed by an article published by the respondent. The Limitations of Actions Act 1974 (Qld) provided a one year limitation period from the date of publication. Two months outside that period, the claimant applied for an extension of time within which to commence the action. The period could be extended (and was to be extended) only if the court were satisfied that it was not reasonable for the plaintiff to have commenced the action within time. Fraser JA and Fryberg J concluded that the trial judge had erred in giving an extension of time. Applegarth J dissented.
The basis for the claimed extension was that, well within time, the claimant’s lawyers had sought to negotiate an outcome with the publisher, including seeking an offer to make amends. On one view, accepted by Fraser JA and Applegarth J, such an offer was made on 16 April 2009. Negotiations continued until 7 July 2009 (after the limitation period had expired), when the publisher gave notice in writing withdrawing the offer. The issue for the Court was whether it was not reasonable for the claimant to commence proceedings while the negotiations continued. In the course of considering the weight to be given to that factor, Applegarth J made various statements about the operation of Pt 3 Div 1 of the common legislative scheme in the Defamation Act. Contrary to the view expressed above, Applegarth J concluded that Division did not prescribe times within which an offer must remain open for acceptance. [98] He did not read s 18(1)(b) as mandating that an offer remain open for acceptance until trial. He continued:[99]

“… A defendant may choose to leave an offer to make amends open for an undefined period, or seek to bring resolution of the matter to an early conclusion by fixing a reasonable time within which it will remain open for acceptance. In the latter case, if the offer is not accepted within the specified time then it will have been “not accepted” or “refused”,[100] potentially engaging a s 18 defence. In the former case, an offer to make amends may be “not accepted” by words or conduct, or both. It is arguable that conduct in commencing proceedings will indicate that an offer is “not accepted”. If it does not have this effect, or if the defendant is in any doubt about the matter, then the offer may be withdrawn pursuant to s 16(1).”
98. Pingel at [101].
99. Pingel at [102].
100. An alternative term to “not accepted” that is used in s 18(2)(b)(i).

These views were tentatively expressed; the judge agreed with the construction adopted above that the offer could in any event be withdrawn pursuant to the power conferred by s 19(1).
Applegarth J then noted that the Division “does not envisage a process of negotiation.”[101] His consideration of Division 1 concluded with the following passage, which was relied upon by the applicant:

“[104] In summary, in the absence of time limits imposed by the Act or time limits imposed by one of the parties, an offer to make amends may generate protracted negotiations. These negotiations may be brought to an end by formal acceptance or rejection of the offer, the commencement of proceedings (which may be interpreted as a rejection of the offer) or the withdrawal of the offer. Division 1 does not require parties to conclude negotiations within a specified time. However, a potential plaintiff who chooses to continue negotiations rather than to commence an action within time runs a substantial risk that the court will not be satisfied that an extension of time should be granted.”
101. Pingel at [103].

Taking the last passage in its own terms, the analysis does not expressly support the applicant’s position that an offer will cease to have effect if expressly or implicitly rejected. What Applegarth J stated was that the “negotiations may be brought to an end by formal acceptance or rejection of the offer …”. That is a different proposition.
If the applicant be correct, then the authority is based on a proposition which is not expressed, but is said to be implicit, in observations made by a dissenting judge on a question of construction which was not necessary for disposal of the case. It does not, in my view, provide sound reason for rejecting the construction of the legislation set out above.
In Bushara v Nobananbas Pty Ltd [102] Nicholas J upheld the proposition that an offer need not be open for acceptance until the trial and the publisher need not be ready and willing at any time before the trial to carry out the terms of the offer. Accordingly, the publisher was entitled to rely upon, by way of defence, an offer which was open to be accepted within 21 days. (The reasonableness of the period was not in issue. [103] )
102. [2012] NSWSC 63.
103. Bushara at [12].
It is true that Nicholas J adopted the reasoning of Applegarth J in Pingel at [101], [102] and [104]. I accept that the reasoning in the first two of those paragraphs supported the approach taken by Nicholas J, which is not in issue in the present case. I do not see that anything said in [104] in Pingel addressed that issue.
The reasoning in Pingel has been followed by a Judicial Registrar in the Victorian Supreme Court. In Barrow v Ackland [104] Judicial Registrar Matthews sought to apply the reasoning of Applegarth J in Pingel. She stated:[105]

“Section 18 of the Act refers to offers which are ‘not accepted’. It does not use the term ‘rejected’. As noted by Applegarth J in Pingel, where there is no time limit for acceptance prescribed in the Act or imposed by the offeror, then any negotiations in respect of the offer may be brought to an end by withdrawal, formal acceptance or rejection of the offer.”
104. [2017] VSC 485.
105. Barrow at [54].

Having identified the issue as whether conduct or words of the plaintiff amounted to “a rejection of the offer,”[106] the Judicial Registrar then reasoned:[107]

“Even if his conduct could be regarded as being part of a negotiation, that is not incompatible with a rejection of the offer. It is common, as part of an ongoing negotiation, for there to be offers made which are rejected.”

The Judicial Registrar concluded that the plaintiff had, by his conduct, rejected the offer, prior to the purported acceptance which, therefore, was not a valid acceptance.

106. Barrow at [55].

107. Barrow at [57].

Having correctly noted the statement by Applegarth J in Pingel with respect to negotiations being at an end, the Judicial Registrar took the additional step of holding that, although the Act did not refer to rejection, rejection of an offer would prevent subsequent acceptance. There was no reasoning to support that elision, and therefore no basis for doubting the different analysis of the statute set out above.

Conclusions

It is sufficient for the determination of this case to conclude that an offer expressed to be open until trial, and only to be capable of withdrawal by notice in writing, was capable of acceptance. The fact that a letter of acceptance was provided before any notice in writing was given withdrawing the offer meant that the acceptance was valid under the Defamation Act.
No other issue need be determined because the terms of the offer were in accordance with the construction of the Act set out above. If they had not been in accordance with that construction, other issues would have arisen.
The contention that parallel negotiations by way of an offer of compromise under UCPR, r 20.26 could amount to an implied or express rejection of the offer to make amends, with the consequence that the offer to make amends was no longer open for acceptance, must be rejected.
The appeal should be dismissed with costs. Orders should be made in the terms proposed by McColl JA.
LEEMING JA: I agree with the orders proposed by McColl JA. The judgments of the other members of the Court have reproduced the factual background and the legislative provisions; what follows is an abbreviated summary which presupposes familiarity with, and does not unnecessarily repeat, those matters.
The essential sequence of events following the alleged defamation was a “concerns notice” from Mr Vass dated 8 May 2015, a document described as an “Offer to Make Amends” from Nationwide dated 5 June 2015, followed by a response from Mr Vass on 10 June 2015 that the offer was not reasonable. Mr Vass filed a statement of claim almost a year later, in April 2016. More than a year later still, by letter dated 9 May 2017, Nationwide purported to withdraw its offer to make amends dated 5 June 2015 and made a “renewed offer to make amends”. This offer was to publish a correction and an apology and to pay $50,000 by way of damages. Both the 5 June 2015 and the 9 May 2017 offers concluded with a paragraph in identical terms:

“This offer remains open to be accepted until commencement of the trial, unless withdrawn in writing. My client remains ready and willing to perform the terms of this offer immediately upon acceptance.”

In January 2018, Mr Vass made an offer of compromise based on judgment in his favour for $449,001. That was not accepted. Then, in March 2018, some five weeks before the matter was listed for trial, Mr Vass purported to accept the 9 May 2017 offer.
The question arising on appeal is whether the primary judge erred in regarding Mr Vass’ acceptance of the 9 May 2017 offer as effective to engage the provisions under Part 3 of the Defamation Act 2005 (NSW).
That question has two aspects. First, Nationwide submitted that the offer in the letter dated 9 May 2017 no longer remained open for acceptance by Mr Vass after January 2018, when he made an offer of compromise in a much larger amount. The service of the offer of compromise amounted to a counter-offer which was, so it was submitted, effective to bring Nationwide’s offer to an end.
Secondly, Nationwide denied that its own letter of 9 May 2017 was a renewed offer. It was submitted that the first offer was not available to be withdrawn because it had already been rejected by the service of a statement of claim, and therefore fell outside s 16. This second submission does not appear to have been advanced before the primary judge, and was only made tentatively in the written submissions in this Court, although it was put squarely in oral submissions. The second submission recognised that it was the logical consequence of acceptance of the first submission.
My reasons for rejecting both submissions may be stated concisely. First, s 14(1) imposes strict time limits upon the making of an offer to make amends. If a “concerns notice” has been served, it may only be made within 28 days thereafter, and it cannot be made if the publisher has served a defence. On one view, the disjunctive paragraphs within s 14(1) constitute two time limits after which an offer to make amends cannot be made; on another view, s 14(1) imposes a time limitation with two disjunctive branches. However, on any view, s 14 is to be read harmoniously with s 16, which addresses both the withdrawal of an offer to make amends and the making of a renewed offer. A renewed offer pursuant to s 16(2) may be made after the s 14 time limits have expired, in the circumstances stated in s 16(5). On the proper construction of s 16(5), and despite its reference to “the [singular] time limit” in that subsection, none of the restrictions in s 14 apply to the making of a renewed offer if s 16(5)(a) and (b) are satisfied. That must be so, otherwise there could never be a renewed offer after a defence had been served, which would be contrary to the purpose in s 3 that the Act has as one of its objects the purpose of facilitating the resolution of disputes without going to trial. That result may be reached either by treating s 14(1) as imposing a singular time limit, or else by treating the reference to “the [singular] time limit” in s 16(5) as referring to the plural time limits imposed by each of s 14(1)(a) and (b) in accordance with s 8(b) of the Interpretation Act 1987 (NSW). I mention all this only for completeness; I did not understand this to be relied on by Nationwide in support of its proposition that the 9 May 2017 offer was not in fact a “renewed offer”.
Secondly, Nationwide conceded that by sufficiently clearly expressed language, an offeror could provide that its offer remained open for acceptance even after a counter-offer or a rejection had been made. The example debated during argument was the inclusion of an additional sentence to the offer, “To be clear, this offer remains in force even if you reject it or make a counter-offer.” The concession was rightly made. It is for the offeror to determine the manner of acceptance and also the circumstances in which an offer will come to an end. There is nothing in the Act which detracts from a publisher’s ability to prescribe the manner of the acceptance or rejection of its offer. As Heydon JA said in Brambles Holdings Ltd v Bathurst City Council (2001) 53 NSWLR 153; [2001] NSWCA 61 at [80], there is no universal principle that a rejection of an offer brings it to an end. It is also true that, where an offer is silent on the point, it may be that it is only open for acceptance within a reasonable time: Ballas v Theophilos (No 2) (1957) 98 CLR 193 at 197; [1957] HCA 90. But Nationwide’s offer made express provision as to the time during which it was open for acceptance: “until commencement of the trial, unless withdrawn in writing.”
Thirdly, there is no reason to displace the natural meaning of the words included in both of Nationwide’s offers. In each case, Nationwide wrote in terms that its offers were open to be accepted until the commencement of the trial. In each case, Nationwide imposed a single qualification upon its offer remaining open, namely, that it reserved the right to withdraw its offer in writing. Nationwide in fact exercised the power which it had reserved to itself to withdraw its first offer when it made its renewed offer. It did so in the self-same letter by which the renewed offer was made. Nationwide was thereby unequivocally proceeding on the basis that its original offer to make amends had remained open for acceptance for almost two years, notwithstanding the service of the statement of claim (not to mention the response from Mr Vass that its offer was not reasonable). That is consistent only with Nationwide’s original offer not lapsing upon its rejection. Nationwide’s renewed offer was couched in materially identical language and ought to be given the same construction.
Fourthly, both of Nationwide’s offers purported to engage the Defamation Act and their language falls to be construed against the backdrop of the Act. The offers purported to be without prejudice save as to costs and a s 18 defence. An element of a s 18 defence is that “at any time before the trial” the publisher was ready and willing, on acceptance of the offer by the aggrieved person, to carry out its terms. This strengthens the conclusion that the offers mean what they say, namely, that subject only to one condition (withdrawal in writing) they remained open for acceptance until the trial. As Basten JA points out, if the offer were to lapse upon the making of a counter-offer, it would be odd if the publisher could no longer avail itself of the defence under s 18 which it had, in terms, purported to invoke.
Fifthly, I do not understand any of the foregoing to be contrary to authority on the construction of the Act or its counterparts in other States. I respectfully agree with what Basten JA has said concerning Pingel v Toowoomba Newspapers Pty Ltd [2010] QCA 175.
It follows that Nationwide’s first offer did not lapse when a statement of claim was served. The service of a statement of claim by Mr Vass could not amount to the offer’s withdrawal in writing. The first offer was validly withdrawn on 9 May 2017 when that occurred by Nationwide making its second offer. The second offer did not lapse when Mr Vass made an offer of compromise, because, once again, the second offer was expressed to be open until the commencement of the trial unless withdrawn in writing.
Nationwide submitted that the “true construction of the Renewed Offer is that it remained open to be accepted until the commencement of the trial, unless it was withdrawn or rejected”. If the closing paragraph of the offer had included the words “or rejected” I would have accepted that submission. But Nationwide’s offers contained but a single qualification upon the period during which they were open for acceptance, namely, “unless withdrawn in writing”. On their proper construction, they were not subject to a second and additional qualification of being withdrawn by a rejection or the making of a counter-offer. Of course, that would not have prevented Nationwide from withdrawing its offer in those circumstances had it sought to do so.
Nationwide was correct to appreciate in this Court that success on its primary submission entailed that it had misconceived its ability to make a renewed offer in May 2017. However, it was not in May 2017 labouring under a misconception. It remained open to Nationwide at that time to withdraw its first offer made in June 2015, just as it remained open to Nationwide to withdraw its renewed offer prior to the trial, so long as it did so in writing and prior to its acceptance by Mr Vass.
Nationwide also complained in writing about a failure to provide full reasons. As is often the case on an appeal by way of rehearing, such a ground adds nothing, because if the order from which the appeal is brought is found to be correct, the appeal will be dismissed even if the reasons are inadequate. But in any event, I would not accept that there was any absence of reasons, which is consistent with no oral submissions being made in support of that ground of appeal.

**********

Endnotes

Amendments

08 November 2018 - [103] "permit either the party" amended to "permit either party".

[133] heading "section 17" bolded.

[151] "1does" amended to "1 does".

04 July 2019 - [172] - "to" deleted after "prejudice".

Decision last updated: 04 July 2019

Medium Neutral Citation:	Nationwide News Pty Ltd v Vass [2018] NSWCA 259
Hearing dates:	18 September 2018
Decision date:	08 November 2018
Before:	McColl JA at [1]; Basten JA at [120]; Leeming JA at [163]
Decision:	(1) Grant leave to appeal. (2) Direct Nationwide News Pty Ltd to file a notice of appeal in the form of the draft in the White Book within 7 days. (3) Dismiss the appeal with costs.
Catchwords:	DEFAMATION – offers of amends – where defendant made offer of amends pursuant to Pt 3, Div 1 of the Defamation Act 2005 (NSW) including offer of compensation and stated offer was “open to be accepted until commencement of the trial, unless withdrawn in writing” – where plaintiff made offer of compromise pursuant to Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW), r 20.26, seeking damages in greater amount than compensation in offer of amends – where offer of amends not expressly withdrawn – where plaintiff accepted offer of amends prior to trial – whether offer of compromise constituted rejection of offer of amends – whether offer of amends validly accepted STATUTORY INTERPRETATION – whether Pt 3, Div 1 of the Defamation Act 2005 (NSW) departs from the general law of offer and acceptance STATUTORY INTERPRETATION – whether intersection between statutory schemes established by Pt 3, Div 1 of the Defamation Act 2005 (NSW) and offer of compromise provisions in UCPR Pt 20, Div 4 WORDS AND PHRASES – “withdrawn” – Defamation Act 2005 (NSW), s 16
Legislation Cited:	Civil Law (Wrongs) Act 2002 (ACT) Defamation Act 1952 (UK) Defamation Act 1974 (NSW) Defamation Act 1996 (UK) Defamation Act 2005 (NSW), ss 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19; Pt 3, Div 1, Div 2; Pt 4, Div 1 Defamation Act 2005 (Qld) Defamation Act 2005 (SA) Defamation Act 2005 (Tas) Defamation Act 2005 (Vic) Defamation Act 2005 (WA) Defamation Act 2006 (NT) Defamation Amendment Act 2002 (NSW) Supreme Court Act 1970 (NSW), s 101 Uniform Civil Procedure Rules 2005 (NSW), r 20.26
Cases Cited:	Abu v MGN Limited [2003] 1 WLR 2201; [2002] EWHC 2345 (QB) Associated Confectionery (Aust) Ltd v Mineral and Chemical Traders Pty Ltd (1991) 25 NSWLR 349 Baker v Taylor (1906) 6 SR (NSW) 500 Ballas v Theophilos (No 2) (1957) 98 CLR 193; [1957] HCA 90 Barrow v Ackland & Gibson [2017] VSC 485 Berowra Holdings Pty Ltd v Gordon (2006) 225 CLR 364; [2006] HCA 32 Brambles Holdings v Bathurst City Council (2001) 53 NSWLR 153; [2001] NSWCA 61 Bushara v Nobananbas Pty Ltd [2012] NSWSC 63 Calderbank v Calderbank [1976] Fam 93; [1975] 3 WLR 586 Carter v Hyde (1923) 33 CLR 115; [1923] HCA 36 CIC Insurance Ltd v Bankstown Football Club Ltd (1997) 187 CLR 384; [1997] HCA 2 Computer Machinery Co Ltd v Drescher [1983] 1 WLR 1379 Cutts v Head [1984] Ch 290 Dean v Stockland Property Management Pty Ltd (No 2) [2010] NSWCA 141 Electrolux Home Products Pty Ltd v Australian Workers’ Union (2004) 221 CLR 309; [2004] HCA 40 Gifford v Strang Patrick Stevedoring Pty Ltd (2003) 214 CLR 269; [2003] HCA 33 Hagerty v Hills Central Pty Ltd [2018] NSWCA 200 Harris v Jenkins [1922] SASR 59 Hockey v Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd (2015) 237 FCR 33; [2015] FCA 652 Hocking v Western Australian Bank (1909) 9 CLR 738; [1909] HCA 68 Hyde v Wrench [1840] 49 ER 132 Khlad v Athanas Bros (Aden) Ltd (1967) 1 BPR 9310 (PC) Livingstone v Evans [1925] 4 DLR 769 Loughton Contracts Plc v Dun & Bradstreet Limited [2006] EWHC 1224 (QB); [2006] All ER (D) 368 Malika Holdings Pty Ltd v Stretton (2001) 204 CLR 290; [2001] HCA 14 Melbourne Corporation v Barry (1922) 31 CLR 174; [1922] HCA 56 Mighty River International Ltd v Hughes; Mighty River International Ltd v Mineral Resources Ltd [2018] HCA 38; (2018) 92 ALJR 822 Milne v Express Newspapers [2005] 1 All ER 1021; [2004] EWCA 664 Mirror Newspapers Limited v Fitzpatrick [1984] 1 NSWLR 643 Moore v Scottish Daily Record & Sunday Mail Ltd [2007] ScotCS CSOH 24 Pingel v Toowoomba Newspapers Pty Ltd [2010] QCA 175 Quadling v Robinson (1976) 137 CLR 192; [1976] HCA 31 Regional Express Holdings Ltd v Australian Federation of Air Pilots [2017] HCA 55; (2017) 92 ALJR 134 Retek Pty Ltd v First Edition Properties Pty Ltd [2003] QSC 007 Ringrow Pty Ltd v BP Australia Pty Ltd (2005) 224 CLR 656; [2005] HCA 71 Sheffield Canal Co v Sheffield and Rotherham Ry Co (1841) Ry & Can Cas 121 Stevenson Jaques & Co v McLean (1880) 5 QBD 346 SZTAL v Minister for Immigration and Border Protection [2017] HCA 34; (2017) 91 ALJR 936 Tesco Stores Ltd v Guardian News & Media Ltd [2009] EMLR 5; [2008] EWHC B14 (QB) Transmetro Corp Ltd v Davy and Ors [2005] QCA 239 Trustee for the Salvation Army (NSW) Property Trust t/as Salvation Army v Becker (No 2) [2007] NSWCA 194 Wagner v Harbour Radio Pty Ltd [2018] QSC 201 Warren v The Random House Group Ltd [2007] EWHC 2856 (QB); [2008] 2 WLR 1033 Warren v The Random House Group Ltd [2009] QB 600; [2008] EWCA Civ 834 Whitney v Dream Developments Pty Ltd (2013) 84 NSWLR 311; [2013] NSWCA 188 Zoef v Nationwide Pty Ltd (2016) 92 NSWLR 570; [2016] NSWCA 283
Texts Cited:	Carter and Harland, Contract Law in Australia (3rd ed, 1996, Butterworths) Clerk & Lindsell on Torts (19th ed, 2006, Sweet & Maxwell) Collins, “New Defamation Law for the ACT” (2001) 6 Media & Arts Law Review 335 Defamation Law: Proposals for Reform in NSW: Report of Attorney General’s Task Force on Defamation Law Reform, (April 2002) England and Wales, Supreme Court Procedure Committee, (July 1991) Mullis and Parkes, Gatley on Libel and Slander (12th ed, 2013, Sweet & Maxwell) New South Wales Legislative Assembly, Parliamentary Debates (Hansard), 13 September 2005 Report of the Law Reform Commission on Defamation New South Wales Law Reform Commission, Report 11, (1971) Second Reading Speech, Defamation Amendment Bill, New South Wales Legislative Assembly, Parliamentary Debates (Hansard), 12 November 2002 Seddon and Ellinghaus, Cheshire and Fifoot’s Law of Contract (8th ed, 2002, LexisNexis Butterworths)
Category:	Principal judgment
Parties:	Nationwide News Pty Ltd (Appellant) Damien Vass (Respondent)
Representation:	Counsel: D Sibtain with M Lewis (Appellant) P Gray SC with L Chapman (Respondent) Solicitors: News Corp Australia (Appellant) O’Brien Solicitors (Respondent)
File Number(s):	2018/155600
Publication restriction:	No
Decision under appeal	Court or tribunal: Supreme Court of NSW Jurisdiction: Common Law Citation: [2018] NSWSC 639 Date of Decision: 20 April 2018 Before: McCallum J File Number(s): 2016/131838