Freedom of Speech in Australia
The Australian Constitution is the set of rules which govern Australia and binding upon society. The Australian constitution provides the power of parliament and, the discretionary power of federal and state government in Australia, roles of the three organs of the government and right or freedom of Australian people which secured under constitution.
Freedom of speech or expression is one of the fundamental human right. Every person have liberty to express their opinion regarding any matter. This right allowing societies development and progress because the ability to speak freely or express opinion is crucial to bring changes in society. According to Rachel Jolley, freedom of speech has always been important
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Freedom of speech is crucial for democracy in Australia, however, there is nothing written in the constitution that protects Australian people right to freedom of speech. As stated by Sheryl Saunders in her paper The Australian Constitution and Our Rights, in contrast to the Constitutions of most other Western countries, which list a range of rights and provide legal protection for them, the Australian Constitution includes only a small handful of provisions that deal expressly with rights, this is included with the right or freedom of speech which is not provided under Australian …show more content…
In a nutshell we can see that the freedom of speech in Australia is not absolute. The limitation of freedom of speech in Australia is being set up by the common law as well as legislation. For instance, in relation to the criminal law of incitement and conspiracy, and in obscenity and sedition law. Apart from that, free speech and right to political communication cannot be used as a defence for defamation case. This show that even though everyone has right to practise freedom of speech, it cannot be used as a defence or reason for breaching other laws in