Damages for defamation in different jurisdictions

In a recent ruling, the Australian courts have allowed Geoffrey Rush to keep his large defamation pay out, following his successful court claim. Geoffrey Rush is best known for his role in The Kings Speech where he played the speech therapist assisting the King during the Second World War.

In April 2019, Geoffrey Rush brought a claim for libel against The Daily Telegraph in Sydney, which had published serious accusations that Mr Rush had been guilty of inappropriate behaviour towards a former colleague in a theatre production.

The court agreed that the story published in the newspaper was untrue and therefore Mr Rush had been libelled. The court awarded him damages of just over £1.5 million.

The publisher (owned by Rupert Murdoch) appealed against the decision and against the size of the pay out but  has recently lost on both counts. The paper will therefore have to pay the damages to Mr Rush which were awarded by the court, as well as having to pay the extra costs that he incurred in dealing with the appeal. 

This was  the largest defamation pay out ever awarded in Australia. It sets a precedent for this type of untrue statement, and the context in which it was published. Therefore if someone with a similar profile to Mr Rush, has a similar allegation made about him by a national newspaper in Australia, they could potentially expect to receive a similar level of damages. 

How much are libel claims worth in England?

In the English courts, it would be rare for defamation damages to exceed £350,000 and most awards would be much lower than this. 

Damages in the USA tend to be even higher than damages for libel awarded in Australia, and in both jurisdictions, the level of damages is much higher than would be awarded by the English courts. We therefore expect that libel damages should be of a similar level in this country, due to the wide reporting of this type of case, but in reality, the courts in England are far less generous.

If someone has published an untrue statement about you, you might be able to claim compensation for the harm caused to your reputation. If you have been the victim of libel by a newspaper, on social media, or in any other way, we may be able to help.

Contact us today for a free initial discussion about our services.