FAQs

Some common examples of behaviours or actions that may be captured include:

• Non-consensual sharing of sexual images
• Guessing an email password belonging to another person and reading personal messages
• Standing on a ladder in a laneway and peering over a back fence to take a video of someone in their backyard
• A person repairing a mobile phone including software which allows them to remotely activate the inbuilt camera and stream images to the internet
• A health practitioner taking photos of a person undergoing surgery

Note: there may be criminal or other civil remedies that already apply to these examples.

Whether or not these examples will give rise to an action under the Bill will depend on all the circumstances.

To bring an action a person must ordinarily live in South Australia or have been physically present in South Australia when the cause of action arose.

An applicant cannot bring an action against conduct by a journalist where that conduct occurred in the course of that person’s occupation as a journalist and where that conduct accords within the relevant standards of professional conduct applying to the journalist.

An individual may not be able to bring about an action if public interest outweighs the privacy of the individual. A court may, for example, consider the following countervailing public interest matters:

• freedom of expression, including political communication and artistic expression
• the proper administration of Government 
• open and transparent justice
• public health and safety and scientific advancement
• national security
• law enforcement and the detection of crime and fraud.

There are a range of defences in the proposed bill including:

• Defence of consent – the conduct was undertaken with the consent of the applicant (express or implied) 
• Defence of lawful authority - the conduct was required or authorised by law
• Defence of necessity and lawful conduct to protect person or property - the respondent genuinely believed that the conduct on which the cause of action is based was necessary and reasonable for a defensive purpose (such as self-defence) or to address a risk to the health, safety or security of the respondent or other person; and the conduct was reasonably proportionate.
• Defences relating to publication or disclosure of information including:
  • absolute privilege (such as disclosures made in parliament or in court proceedings)
  • fair report of proceedings of public concern (such as the public proceedings of parliament or a government) 
  • publication or disclosure of public documents (such as a paper published by parliament or judgment of a court).

Yes, by regulations.