DEFENCE AGAINST DEFAMATION

It is not a defence to an action for defamation that a person was merely repeating what another person said or that the person to whom the defamatory material was published did not believe it. However, there are valid defences that apply, depending on the circumstances of the case. The Defamation Act 2005 (SA) sets out a number of defences that expand the common law and create new statutory defences.