Our Media Freedom Act has been the product of five years of research, drafting, and policy development. The act borrows from well-established law in Australia and the United Kingdom to create robust protection for journalism without unduly compromising national security or state secrets.
Australia is the world’s only liberal democracy without media freedom hard-wired into its constitution. That has allowed governments the space to pass laws that erode the space journalists operate in, undermine their ability to protect sources, and expose their data to intrusive investigations.
To fix this, we believe Australia needs a Media Freedom Act. The concept is based on Human Rights acts in Queensland, the ACT and Victoria. Those acts do three simple things: they compel parliament to always consider human rights when passing new legislation, the courts to always consider human rights in interpreting existing laws, and public servants to act in ways that support human rights. Our Media Freedom Act does something similar.
This does not mean that media freedom is always privileged over the need to keep certain government information secret, but we believe the public interest in the work of journalists should always be recognised and considered.
The global erosion of media freedom underscores the fact that we cannot take it for granted. A Media Freedom Act is one way of shoring it up in Australia.
Policies
The Act has 4 key policies
- Where possible, media freedom is to be protected as a matter of principle throughout Australia’s legal system.
- The Parliamentary Joint Committee on Human Rights (PJCHR) will monitor legislation for compatibility with press freedom.
- The courts are to interpret Commonwealth legislation in line with media freedom principles.
- Journalists must have the right to challenge search warrants on public interest grounds.