The Study Of The Australian Media Law To Protect Freedom Of Expression

Media law is the laws and regulations implement to media dissemination behavior in a country. The purpose is to protect the free expression of the media, and it is achievement by the balance the freedom of expression with other legal rights. Australian is different with the countries which formulate the written media law, it is not the single legal documents and guarantee the freedom of expression through the statute law and judicial precedent mainly. It is the aggregation of many statutes laws and common laws. Australian media law show its own legislative characteristics and localization content base on the inheritance of the British legal system and principles, and become a model for many western countries and the vast numbers of developing countries. Due to the wide range covered by the Australian media law, the dissertation analyzes the most representative aspects. They are the Constitution, the Freedom of Information Act, the Prohibitive Regulations, the Defamation Act and the Privacy Act. The five aspects investigate the relationship between the freedom of expression and state, society and individual rights. The purpose of the dissertation is to understand the Australian media law legal principles and how it comprehends the freedom of expression.The political and legal system of Australia are influenced by the system of the United Kingdom and the United States, and they are important basis for the formation of the Australian media law. The Constitution is the fundamental law of a country, and often shows the state understanding to the freedom of expression. The protection of the freedom of expression from Australian Constitutional perspective will be analyzed. Despite the Australian Constitution do not put forward clearly to protect the freedom of expression, it is protected and limited by Constitution precedent. The British freedom of expression thought and the international law influence the potential Constitutional right. The analysis of the Australian Constitution is legal basis for the following parts.From the national level, the Freedom of Information Act coordinates the relationship between the right to know and national security. It is most important aspect of the relationship between the media and the state. The legislative background, legislative principle of Australian Freedom of Information Act is discussed in order to explain the protection and limitation of the right to know in the law. From the social perspective, any activities should be to safeguard the interests of society and social morality. Some Prohibitive Regulations stipulate the media dissemination contents in order to balance the freedom of expression with the social interests. Prohibited racial discrimination, ban blasphemy, forbids the pornographic content is most typical aspects. The limitation of the freedom of expression of Prohibitive Regulation and the defense issues is analyzed.The Defamation Act and Private Act are analyzed and discussed. The right of reputation and the right of privacy is considered to be important individual rights to be protected. The relationship between media freedom of expression and the right of reputation protection in Defamation Act is explained. The affirmation of defamation, the pre-litigation mediation and defense issues are analyzed. The relationship between the freedom of expression and the right of privacy protection is discussed, the protection of privacy and defense issues in Australian Privacy Act is analyzed. Through the analysis of these two laws, the understanding and characteristics is explained.The research used comparative research method. The Australian media law is compared with British and the United States in order to add the deeper understanding of the Australian media law in the context of comparisons.