Adjudication No. 423 (October 1989) [1989] APC 36

ADJUDICATION No. 423 (October 1989)

Mr Digby Wilson and the Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement Inc. complain to the Press Council concerning an article which appeared in the South Australian Sunday Mail on 20 August 1989. The article was entitled "'Easy money' bid backfires" with the strap-line "Aborigines try hotel discrimination rort". The complainants say it is both misleading and factually incorrect.

The article refers to a recent decision by the Equal Opportunity Tribunal in favour of three Aborigines who complained that they were refused service at a Port Augusta hotel because of their race.

It quotes claims by the publican that out-of-town Aborigines are now converging on the hotel and causing trouble in the hope of collecting "thousands of dollars" in compensation for discrimination.

The article does not only quote the publican, however. Its first three paragraphs state his claims as fact. The Council agrees with the complainants that this was misleading.

In addition, the article states that in the original case dealt with by the Equal Opportunity Tribunal, three Aborigines were refused service because one was not wearing shoes. This was clearly wrong. In fact the Tribunal explicitly rejected this explanation for the refusal of service, finding that the Aborigines' dress was appropriate for the bar which they wished to patronise.

The Press Council considers that the article made no effort to distinguish between a dispassionate analysis of the situation in Port Augusta and the claims of a publican in the town. The complaint is upheld.