Adjudication No. 1316 (adjudicated May 2006; re-issued June 2006) [2006] APC 10

Adjudication No. 1316 (adjudicated May 2006; re-issued June 2006)

The Australian Press Council has upheld a complaint against The Sunday Mail, Brisbane, from the parents of two teenage girls, photographed in the evening walking in bikinis through a crowd during the annual "Schoolies" event on the Queensland Gold Coast.

An article headlined Playing with fire and carrying a subheading How two teenage girls ran the gauntlet at Schoolies was published on 27 November 2005, accompanied by a large photograph of the two girls.

The names of the girls were not published and the newspaper blacked out part of their faces in an attempt to protect their identity. The parents say that, despite the partial blacking out, the girls were identifiable.

The Council originally adjudicated the complaint in May but both parties appealed: the newspaper was concerned with the decision to uphold the complaint and the parents with the wording of the finding.

The Council re-affirms the original decision to uphold the complaint and re-issues the adjudication in this amended form. It notes that it does not have enough uncontested evidence to rule on questions related to the exact sequence of events, on who said what to whom and some other issues disputed by the parties.

The thrust of the article was that the girls were placing themselves in a potentially dangerous situation. It quoted one volunteer as saying that the girls were putting themselves at risk, and an academic commenting on the pressure on young people to be noticed.

The parents said their daughters were not doing anything illegal or immoral but perhaps they did get "caught up in the moment". They also said that the article was highly offensive and had sensationalised what was essentially "a minor indiscretion".

The newspaper said the picture was taken in a public place on an issue of great public interest. It said the article, and picture, provided a warning for girls, and parents of those attending "Schoolies" in future, to use a commonsense approach to how they conduct themselves in such an environment.

The Press Council appreciates the concerns of the girls' parents particularly as they said that their daughters, despite having sections of their face blacked out, were identified by those who knew them.

In the light of the main thrust of the article, and the print media's Privacy Standards, the newspaper, having recognised that protection of the girls' identities was warranted, should have taken greater steps to ensure their privacy.