A City of Melville councillor who was the subject of a defamation claim from a fellow councillor is now pushing for changes to WA’s defamation laws.
Cr Scott Green wants the City of Melville council to back his push for the State Government to amend the Defamation Act 2005 (WA) and to seek support from the WA Local Government Association.
It was revealed last year Cr Green was being sued for defamation by fellow elected member Cr Clive Ross.
In August, Cr Green posted on social media he had settled a defamation matter and had issued an apology.
He said at the time he would push for changes to WA’s defamation law as a separate issue unrelated to his resolved matter.
He wants WA to adopt amendments to Australian defamation law that were approved by the Council of Attorneys-General in 2020.
In his motion, which is scheduled to be presented to the council this month, Cr Green said WA’s defamation laws were outdated and it was an “outlier”.
“Every other Australian jurisdiction has adopted the serious harm test through the Model Defamation Amendment Provisions 2020, while WA remains the only State yet to implement this important reform,” his motion says.
“As a result, a claimant in WA does not need to prove that a publication has caused or is likely to cause serious harm to their reputation before a defamation claim can proceed. In every other State and Territory, claims can be dismissed at an early stage if this threshold is not met.”
He said this acted as a safeguard against excessive, avoidable and/or inappropriate litigation.
“Elected members, local government staff and members of the public are increasingly reluctant to speak out on matters of public interest for fear of being drawn into expensive defamation proceedings,” he said in his motion.
In response, city staff said defamation law was not part of local government and the State Government was already working on reforms.
“The State Government advised Parliament in May 2026 that drafting of legislation implementing ... reforms was under way,” their report said.
“Any (motion) should acknowledge that legislative reform is already under development and could therefore focus on supporting and encouraging timely implementation of the reforms, rather than suggesting that no action is being taken by the State.”
Officers preferred using WALGA to advocate for the proposed reforms.
Other suggested avenues were speaking directly to the Attorney General or local members of Parliament, a petition, or taking part in State consultation.
The City of Melville council is scheduled to consider Cr Green’s proposal at its October 20 meeting.