Within the Australian legal system defamation falls under the legal heading of 'torts', thus meaning a civil wrong. Australian defamation laws are primarily State and Territory laws (not Federal) and the laws, including available defences, vary within each separate jurisdiction. The law of defamation is supposed to offer solace to an individual who has had their reputation damaged due to defamation by either slander or libel. If defamation has been proven the normal mechanism of the courts is to award the plaintiff an exorbent amount of money in compensation (Pearson, 1997 pp. 96-97).
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