MECO3603 Privacy Law Essay

ABC v. Lenah Game Meats (2001)

if a “right to privacy were to be recognised in Australia” it would benefit “natural persons” (Rolph, 2012, p.5)

Gleeson CJ

defined a breach of privacy to mean “disclosure or observation of information” which “would be highly offensive to a reasonable person”

Privacy Act 1988

“information or an opinion” about “an individual who is reasonably identifiable”

Polden, 2012

“use of rumour, confidential information [and] offensive material”

Saunders, 2003, p.90

“exposing crime, preventing risks to health and safety, and ensuring the public are not mislead”

Aristotle, 1976, p.76

“an activity of soul in accordance with virtue”

Merrill, 1974, p.186

“to gain some advantage or secure some award” but rather act with the conviction of doing what is right

Aristotle, 1976, p.93

Ethical agents “are compelled at every step to think out for themselves what the circumstances demand”

Hodges, 1987, p.30

journalists “must make their own determination about their responsibilities”

Glasser & Gunther, 2005, p.389

“visceral attachment to autonomy”

Borden & Bowers, 2020, p.497

the press is “a watchdog”

Saunders, 2004, p.18

“objective reasons for acting morally...considered independently of empirical experience”

Kant, 1909, p.47

“in every case as an end withal, never as a means only”

Wilkins & Christians, p.465

“feel pressure to fit in with corporate agendas”

Hodges, 1987, p.30

journalistic responsibilities are “contracted” or “self-imposed”

Hodges, 1987, p.18

“more or less overt sanctions”

Black, 2008, p.32

“meaningfully and regularly explain to the public why they make the decisions they do”

Principle 1

“not suppress relevant available facts or give distorting emphasis”

Principle 8

“use fair, responsible and honest means to obtain material”

Principle 11

“respect private grief and personal privacy”

MEAA Code of Ethics

“respect for truth” and the “public’s right to information”