Page 3857 - Week 09 - Thursday, 25 August 2011
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The bill also provides for mutual recognition of self-incrimination certificates issued in other jurisdictions and will clarify that the model professional confidential relationship privilege applies to journalists.
I will now address the amendments in the bill which will establish a specific journalist privilege in the ACT. Journalist shield laws have received a lot of attention in recent years, with growing recognition of the vital role that journalists play in ensuring an open, democratic society. Freedom of the press is an essential safeguard for the public in ensuring accountability in government.
In 2007, the commonwealth enacted legislation to establish a journalist privilege in the Evidence Act, modelled on the professional confidential relationship privilege. This privilege was limited to journalists and did not apply more broadly to other professions.
Late last year, a bill was presented to the commonwealth House of Representatives to replace the existing journalist privilege with a new privilege based on New Zealand legislation. The new privilege was designed to strengthen the capacity of journalists to protect the identity of their sources.
After being referred to, and reported on, by the commonwealth legal and constitutional affairs legislation committee, the bill was passed in the commonwealth parliament in March, with amendments by the Greens. The act commenced on 13 April 2011, and the amendments it made to the commonwealth act now apply in the ACT.
The new privilege establishes a presumption against the disclosure of evidence that would reveal the identity of a journalist’s source. However, in recognising the public interest in all relevant evidence being brought before the court, the privilege provides that the presumption can be rebutted. This will occur if the court is satisfied that the public interest in revealing the source’s identity outweighs both the likely harm to the source or another person and the public interest in reporting the news.
Unlike the model professional confidential relationship privilege, the onus of establishing the public interest is on the party seeking disclosure. The Greens’ amendments to the commonwealth act broadened the definition of journalist to more appropriately recognise new media structures and not just existing media structures.
Establishing a journalist privilege in the Evidence Act modelled on the new commonwealth privilege will ensure that the law in relation to journalist privilege in the ACT continues unchanged following these evidence reforms. Despite the different approaches to defining a journalist, the ACT’s privilege will also be largely consistent in operation with New South Wales, which established a similar privilege in June this year.
The amendments in this bill will see the ACT take the final step in independently adopting the uniform evidence law in the territory. It will also ensure that the existing journalist shield law in the territory is continued once the completed package of evidence reforms commences in 2012. I commend the bill to the Assembly.
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