Adjudication No. 1338  (adjudicated October 2006)

The Council has upheld complaints from Claire O'Connor and Dr James Hundertmark over an article that appeared on 21 July in The Advertiser, Adelaide.

The article dealt with Cornelia Rau, a German-born Australian resident, who had previous media attention after being wrongly held in immigration detention.

The article reported that she had been admitted to a psychiatric ward in Adelaide after an incident in the Northern Territory where she was on holiday. There were complaints about an invasion of Ms Rau's privacy and about how the information in the article was obtained.

The complaints were referred to the newspaper, which argued that "at best this issue appears to be the result of a series of misunderstandings or poor communication".

The Council finds that the report breached the print media's privacy standards by reporting in detail on Ms Rau's mental state.

The Council has also upheld a complaint from Dr Hundertmark, the Clinical Director of the local mental health service, that the journalist apparently misrepresented himself when he repeatedly contacted the facility where Ms Rau was being held, seeking information on her condition, claiming he was a family friend.

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