A Perth councillor is urging the state government to change its defamation laws due to elected members being fearful of speaking out in case they are sued.
City of Melville councillor Scott Green, who has himself been caught up in defamation proceedings with a fellow councillor, put forward a notice of motion to the council seeking advocacy support from the WA Local Government Association in a bid to amend the Defamation Act 2005 (WA).
Green’s reasoning behind the motion was that WA’s defamation laws were outdated compared to the rest of the country.
“Every other Australian jurisdiction has adopted the serious harm test through the Model Defamation Amendment Provisions 2020, while Western Australia remains the only state yet to implement this important reform,” he said in the council agenda ahead of Tuesday’s meeting.
And Green’s fight may already have traction within the government. WA Attorney General Tony Buti told this masthead work was currently under way on the first two stages of defamation law reforms.
“Reform of defamation law in WA will be consistent with the Model Defamation Provisions implemented in other jurisdictions, which include a serious harm test and a single publication rule,” Buti said.
“Work to implement the Stage 1 and Stage 2A defamation law reforms in WA is under way and legislation will be introduced into Parliament once it is finalised.”
In 2020, amendments to Australia’s defamation laws were agreed to be adopted by all states including WA after a review by the Council of Attorneys-General.
Currently in WA, a claimant 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, whereas in other states and territories, claims can be dismissed at an early stage if this threshold is not met.
“The absence of the 2020 provisions in WA has a detrimental effect on free speech and accountability, particularly in local government,” Green said.
“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.”
Green told this masthead that his goal for the notice of motion was to “seek support from council to show solidarity and combat the issue of free speech in the City”.
If the motion is approved, it would see the council provide a copy of its resolution to WALGA’s South Metropolitan Zone seeking support to advocate for the harmonisation of WA’s defamation laws.
Green said the request for support from WALGA would “carry much more weight” if it had council support rather than being put forward by a single council member.
The WALGA meeting is anticipated to be held in November.
In response to Green’s motion, city officers said defamation law was a matter of state law and not something local government could change.
“The regulation, amendment and reform of defamation law are not matters within the legislative or regulatory remit of local government,” they wrote in a report to council.
“The City cannot amend the Defamation Act 2005, determine the substantive elements of the law of defamation or compel the State Government to adopt amendments to the model defamation provisions.
“Council’s consideration of the motion should therefore be understood as consideration of an advocacy position, rather than the exercise of a statutory regulatory function concerning defamation law.”
Green himself has been subject to a defamation case after he was sued by fellow Melville councillor Clive Ross last year.
Green posted to social media in September 2025 acknowledging that he was being sued and that he was “proud of the strong stances” he had taken in his first two years on council.
It is understood that the matter was settled earlier this year.