McLachlan v Browne & Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd; McLachlan v Browne & Australian Broadcasting Corporation (No 3) [2018] NSWSC 830

Supreme Court New South Wales

Medium Neutral Citation: McLachlan v Browne & Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd; McLachlan v Browne & Australian Broadcasting Corporation (No 3) [2018] NSWSC 830 Hearing dates: 25 May 2018 Date of orders: 28 May 2018 Decision date: 28 May 2018 Jurisdiction: Common Law Before: McCallum J Decision: Application for suppression and non-publication orders refused Catchwords: SUPPRESSION AND NON-PUBLICATION – action for defamation – plaintiff suing on imputation of sexual impropriety – newspaper seeking to justify imputation relying in part on allegations of sexual impropriety made by persons not referred to in the matter complained of – persons providing that information seeking protection of their anonymity and suppression of the information provided – whether "parties to the proceedings" within the meaning of the Courts Suppression and Non-publication Act – whether grounds for making orders established – where particulars of defence held back pending success of application for suppression orders Legislation Cited: Civil Procedure Act 2005 (NSW), s 60 Court Suppression and Non-publication Orders Act 2010 (NSW), ss 3 (definition of party), 7, 8(1) Crimes Act 1900 (NSW), s 578A Cases Cited: Jane Doe v Fairfax Media Publications Pty Limited [2016] NSWSC 1294 Category: Procedural and other rulings Parties: Proceedings 2018/34244: Craig McLachlan (plaintiff) Christie Whelan Browne (first defendant) Fairfax Media Publications Pty Ltd (second defendant)

Proceedings 2018/34257 Craig McLachlan (plaintiff) Christie Whelan Browne (first defendant) Australian Broadcasting Corporation (second defendant) Representation: Counsel: S Littlemore QC, M Richardson (plaintiff) L Barnett (first and second defendants in both proceedings)