General Press Release No. 277 (March 2007)

Chief Justice Martin the speak on the media and the Courts

Chief Justice Wayne Martin will address an Australian Press Council public meeting on "Access to Justice - The Media, the Courts and the Public Record" in Perth on Thursday 22 March.

Chief Justice Martin will consider public and media access to the Courts and their records. He will address the principles governing that access, and the benefits to the community generally from the widest possible public and media access to the workings of their Courts. He will also address particular aspects of access arising from the availability of new technologies, such as the Internet, and the prospect of web-based broadcasting of court proceedings.

The public meeting will be held from 5.15 pm in the Central Park Theatrette, Mezzanine, Central Park, 152-158 St Georges Terrace, Perth (entry via Hay Street), during a visit to Perth by the Press Council for its monthly complaints hearings and Council meeting. Chair of the forum will be the Council Chairman, Professor Ken McKinnon. The public meeting is co-sponsored by Minter Ellison.

After the Address, there will be the opportunity for questions to the speaker and some audience discussion of the issues raised. To assist with this aspect of the evening, the Council has invited the editors of the major Perth newspapers to attend.

Admission to the public meeting is free and all members of the public are invited. It is not necessary to make reservations: just turn up on the night.

About 20 members of the Council will be in Perth for the Council's regular monthly meetings. The Press Council is the print media watchdog. It consists of public and journalist members, and industry appointed representatives. Its meetings are usually held in Sydney but at least twice a year it visits other major centres. Its role is to ensure the freedom and the responsibility of the press. It seeks to ensure a free press by fostering debate on matters that may limit free speech and by making representations to governments and others on proposals that threaten free expression. In order to ensure that the free press is responsible the Council accepts and deals with complaints about the ethical behaviour of newspapers and magazines.

This will be the Council's third visit to Perth. The previous one was in 1996.

See also
The transcript of Chief Justice Martin's speech

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