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Defamation Lawyers in Melbourne
When a false statement damages a business owner, a director or a professional, the harm is rarely only personal. It reaches clients, counterparties, lenders and staff. We act for people and businesses in Melbourne whose reputation has been attacked and where the consequences are commercial.
Reputation matters, handled commercially
A defamatory publication is a commercial problem before it is a legal one. A review that names a director. A former employee posting claims about how the business operates. A competitor briefing your customers. An anonymous account making allegations that your clients can see.
We advise business owners, directors, professionals and companies across Melbourne under the Defamation Act 2005 (Vic) and in the Victorian courts. The work is to establish quickly whether there is a claim worth bringing, to stop the damage spreading while that is assessed, and to resolve the matter in a way that repairs the position rather than prolongs the publicity.
Where a publication attacks the business through the person running it, the claim is usually theirs to bring.
The routes available to a business where defamation itself is not open to it.
Getting material removed, including orders against the platform hosting it.
Preliminary discovery to identify who posted the material.
The mandatory pre-action step, and the offer to make amends process that follows.
For businesses and directors on the receiving end of a concerns notice.
Can your business actually sue?
This is the question most reputation pages get wrong, and it is the first thing worth knowing.
Under section 9 of the Defamation Act 2005 (Vic), a corporation has no cause of action for defamation unless it was an "excluded corporation" when the matter was published. In practice a for-profit company qualifies only if it had fewer than 10 employees and is not an associated entity of another corporation. Part-time staff count as a fraction of a full-time equivalent, and the definition of employee reaches contractors who work in the day to day operations of the business under its control. Not-for-profit corporations are treated differently and are not subject to the employee threshold, provided they are not a public body.
Many established Victorian businesses cannot sue in defamation over a publication that plainly damages them.
That is not the end of the matter, and it is where judgement starts to matter.
The individual usually can sue
Section 9(5) preserves the cause of action of an individual associated with a corporation, even where the same publication also defames the company. An attack on a business is very often an attack on the named director or owner, and the claim runs in their name. Framing the matter correctly at the outset is the difference between a claim and a dead end.
The company has other routes
Where defamation is unavailable, the tort of injurious falsehood may be, though it requires proof that the false statement was published maliciously and that actual damage followed. False statements made in trade or commerce may also engage the misleading or deceptive conduct provisions of the Australian Consumer Law. These are different causes of action with different elements and different remedies, and they are not interchangeable with defamation.
Serious harm is a threshold, not a formality
Since 1 July 2021, section 10A makes serious harm to reputation an element of the cause of action, decided by the judge rather than the jury and capable of being determined before trial. For an excluded corporation the test is higher again: harm is not serious unless it has caused, or is likely to cause, serious financial loss. A claim that cannot clear this is dismissed, and it can be dismissed early.
We give you an honest read on which of these is open to you before you spend money finding out.
A considered path through a reputation matter
Assess the claim, and who holds it
We establish what was published, where, to whom, and what it conveys. Then the threshold questions: is there serious harm, is the company excluded under section 9, does the claim sit with you personally, and is defamation the right cause of action at all. You get a clear view of your position before committing to a course.
Set the strategy and act on the timing
Before proceedings can be commenced, a concerns notice must be given and the period for an offer to make amends must elapse. That step is not a formality, it is a gate, and it shapes everything after it. Where content needs to come down or a publisher needs to be identified, we move on that in parallel rather than waiting.
Resolve it, or run it
Most reputation matters resolve on a correction, a removal, an apology or terms that address the commercial damage. Where a matter cannot resolve, we run it in the Victorian courts. The measure is whether your position is repaired, not whether a point is won.
Reputation work for business owners and directors
The patterns we see most often, and what can actually be done about each.
Anonymous & online attacks
Reforms in force in Victoria since 11 September 2024 changed what can be done about digital publication. The Act now provides for orders for preliminary discovery to identify the person who posted material, and for orders against digital intermediaries who are not parties to the proceeding. Where an account is anonymous, "we cannot find out who it is" is no longer the answer it once was.
Getting the material down
Removal is often worth more than damages. We pursue it through the concerns notice and offer to make amends process, through the publisher directly, and through the court where it comes to that. Acting early matters, because the longer material sits the more it is copied and indexed.
Former employees & competitors
An exit that turns hostile. A competitor briefing the market. A review that goes beyond an opinion about service. These sit close to restraint of trade, confidential information and misleading conduct, and are usually better handled as one strategy than as separate matters.
Commercial litigationA realistic read on whether you have a claim
Initial consultations are confidential and run by senior practitioners who will tell you, plainly, whether the claim is there and whether it is worth bringing.
Book a consultationDefending a defamation claim
Businesses and directors receive concerns notices as well as send them, and the reforms cut both ways. Serious harm must now be established by the person suing. The public interest defence introduced in 2021 is available where a publication concerns an issue of public interest and the publisher reasonably believed publishing was in the public interest. The offer to make amends process gives a publisher who moves quickly a route to contain a claim early.
If a concerns notice has landed, the response window is short and what you say in it matters. Speak with us before you reply.
The first weeks decide what is possible
An action for defamation must not be brought after one year from the date of publication. A court may extend that, up to a maximum of three years from publication, but only if satisfied it is just and reasonable to allow the action to proceed. That is a discretion, not an entitlement, and it is not something to build a strategy on.
A concerns notice given close to the end of the limitation period can extend it, but only within a defined window, so a notice is not a way of buying time indefinitely. And for material published online, repeat publication of substantially the same matter by the same publisher generally runs from the date of first publication rather than restarting, so an old post is not made fresh by being reposted.
Trusted on the matters that mattered most
After speaking to many law firms, I felt that getting legal help was not for me. But my view completely changed after speaking with Special Counsel Peter Wood. He was knowledgeable, generous, kind, and genuinely caring. Peter listened with compassion and made me feel supported during a difficult time.
Highly professional, compassionate staff with a high level of knowledge and competence. Reliable, reassuring and there when you need them. Highly recommend.
I had a positive experience with Emily recently regarding a family dispute. I found her to be professional, knowledgeable and efficient. Her excellent communication skills made me feel comfortable and assured moving forward.
Questions business clients ask before they engage
Reputation matters are decided early.
If a publication is damaging you, your business or your professional standing, the first weeks decide what is possible. Arrange a consultation and we will tell you whether there is a claim, who holds it, and what can be done now.
See also: Commercial Litigation, Urgent Injunctions, Shareholder Disputes, Professional Negligence.