Hi there. Generally speaking, a person does not need permission before they write a book or article about another person. There are laws in Australia that protect the right to free speech and the ability to make fair comments about matters of public interest. However, sometimes these publications can cross the line by damaging the reputation of an individual. In these situations, defamation law gives a person whose reputation has been wrongfully attacked the right to take legal action against those responsible for the attack. To make a claim for defamation, you need to satisfy three things:

(1) The material must be published. This includes a written book or article.

(2) The material must identify the person who has been allegedly defamed. It is not necessary for the person to be directly identified. Defamation may still exist if a reasonable person reading the publication understands it as referring to the relevant person.

(3) The material must be ‘defamatory’ in nature. This means it must convey meaning about a person that lowers their reputation in the eyes of reasonable members of the community, or causes the person to be ridiculed, avoided or despised by members of the general public.

If you can prove that each of these three things exist, then you will have a claim for defamation against the author and/or publisher of the book or article. If the book or article has not yet been published, you can seek a court injunction stopping the publication of the offending material. Injunctions can be difficult to obtain in these situations because the court must be careful not to make a decision that restricts free speech. You should also be aware that the author or publisher may not be liable for defamation if they have a recognised defence (e.g. the defamatory material is true or is a fair comment on a matter of public interest).