What is slander?
Historically, the common law in Australia divided libel and slander into two different categories being either libel or slander. They were both subsets of the concept of defamation with slander being a impermanent form of publication such as speech and libel being a more permanent form like in a newpaper or a book. In Australia, however, the distinction was largely abolished by the introduction of national uniform defamation laws. Before the introduction of this legislation, however, there was the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 (Cth) which said that the publication of defamatory matter over radio or television is deemed to be libel. However since 2005 with the introduction of uniform defamation laws across Australia, this is not really relevant as the court will simply look to the general definition of defamation in order to determine whether a particular imputation or publication is defamatory. Examples of slanderous accusations may be in relation to a person’s sexual relationships or to their employment or means of making a living in anyway. An example of slander might be that if you were looking at going into a business partnership with John and Jim said to John that you were a cheater and couldn’t be trusted and John decided because of this not to work with you, you could sue Jim for the financial loss of John’s business; but not for your loss reputation. This also reflects the need to be able to prove damages in relation to the accusation which has been made against you. If an accusation is not published widely or is so trivial that it would be unliklely to reduce the opinion of other people in society about you then it is not slanderous.
How can I get help with defamation law?
If you have any questions about the law of slander, or if you think you might have been slandered in some way, we represent people in relation to defamation proceedings. We have specialised lawyers available who can assist with your enquiry about defamation. Please do not hesitate to contact us using any of the methods available on this site.
