Adjudication No. 290 (July 1986) [1986] APC 26

ADJUDICATION No. 290 (July 1986)

On November 23, 1985 The Manly Daily, in the course of reporting a committal hearing against a man charged with abducting and sexually assaulting a woman, published the name and address of the woman concerned. This has evoked a complaint from the NSW Sexual Assault Committee, a body established by the NSW Government.

Subject to statutory restrictions and valid judicial orders, newspapers are free to publish fair reports of court proceedings. There are strong reasons of public interest for this freedom to remain. A consequence is that journalists carry the responsibility for making a professional judgment about what will be reported. There has long been a consensus amongst responsible journalists that as a general rule nothing should be reported which might identify the victim of a sexual assault and this attitude is strongly endorsed by the Press Council. A sexual assault is a gross invasion of privacy and dignity involving humiliation and embarrassment as well as physical suffering. Publicity compounds the suffering and may also be a deterrent to the reporting of the offence. In these circumstances the publication of any identifying particulars of the victim of a sexual assault can only be justified by some compelling reason of public interest or fairness. This will rarely occur.

Far from suggesting any such justification in the present case, the paper has expressed regret for the publication, which it says was in breach of its established policy and occurred by oversight. While the paper's policy is commendable, it is a serious matter that both reporter and sub-editor failed to apply it in the present case. This suggests that the paper may need to put its policy in writing, if it has not already done so, and to take steps to see that the policy is well known to its staff, and comes to the notice of new staff.

The complaint is upheld.