Adjudication No. 887 (OCTOBER 1996) [1996] APC 61

ADJUDICATION No. 887 (OCTOBER 1996)

The Australian Press Council has upheld a complaint against the Blacktown City Guardian insofar as it relates to the publication of two photographs identifying a woman who threatened to suicide.

The photographs accompanied a report about the woman who had earlier been spoken to by the police about prank phone calls. After saying that she was going to jump, the woman sat on a steel beam which jutted out from the bridge over Penrith-bound train lines. The report continues with a description of police rescue attempts, crowd reactions, disruption of train services, the woman's tearful state and ultimately that she was "currently being assessed by ... mental unit specialists".

Common sense and fairness dictate that extreme caution must be taken not to infringe the right to privacy of individuals who may be suffering from an illness or disability.

In its defence the newspaper contended that as the photographs were taken in a public place there was no breach of privacy laws. It is not disputed that the photographs were taken in a public place but the identity of the woman concerned was not a matter of over-riding public interest. A long distance photograph of the woman in profile sitting on the beam over the railway line was published and is not objectionable.

The Press Council is of the opinion that the dramatic events which were the main subject of the report could have been told quite sufficiently without close-up pictures of the woman's face.

The Press Council considers that it was fair and reasonable for the paper to inform its readers what had happened to the woman after she was rescued from the bridge and also information provided to them by the Police as to whether or not any charges would be laid against the woman. Those aspects of the complaint are dismissed.