What Must a Defamation Concerns Notice Contain in Queensland?

A concerns notice that misses a required detail can be treated as if it was never given, and the clock for an offer to make amends never starts. Getting the contents right under s 12A protects your ability to sue.

This checklist expands the existing page and sets out what s 12A requires, how the publisher may answer, and the timing that follows.

What s 12A requires

A concerns notice under s 12A must contain four elements, and each should be precise rather than general.

• In writing. An oral complaint is not enough, even if the publisher replies.
• Where the matter can be accessed. Give the URL, address, or other location where the publication can be found. For an online post, include the direct link and where it sits on the page or group.
• The imputations. State the defamatory imputations the person considers are carried, in the words you will rely on. These frame the later case, so they should be drafted carefully rather than as broad labels.
• The harm. State the harm the person considers to be serious harm to reputation, or for an excluded corporation the serious financial loss relied on.

For an excluded corporation, the notice must address serious financial loss, not personal reputational harm.

What happens after you send it

Proceedings cannot be commenced until a concerns notice has been given, the imputations were particularised, and the applicable period for an offer to make amends has passed (s 12B).

That period is generally 28 days after the concerns notice, or 14 days after further particulars are provided if that is later (s 14). The publisher may give a further particulars notice asking for reasonable further particulars. The aggrieved person has 14 days to respond, or the concerns notice is taken not to have been given.

A court may grant leave to start proceedings without waiting, for example where the limitation period is about to expire (s 12B(3)).

The limitation period for defamation in Queensland is generally one year from publication (s 10AA), and it may be extended in limited cases. Because that year keeps running while the notice process plays out, allow time for drafting, service and the offer period.

Example

A cafe owner receives a Google review saying the owner “rorts customers and serves contaminated food”. A first draft that says “remove the lies about my cafe” fails because it does not name the URL, does not state the specific imputations (that the owner is dishonest and that the food is unsafe), and does not state the serious harm relied on, such as lost bookings and community reputation in a town where the cafe relies on referrals. A compliant notice sets out the URL, the two imputations, and the harm: two cancelled functions, a supplier query and reduced bookings in the fortnight after publication, supported by messages and records.

Where the notice sits in the process

The concerns notice is the first formal step, not the last. It gives the publisher a chance to make amends before proceedings, and the response may resolve the matter without a court. If no offer is made or the offer is not accepted, the serious harm evidence you gathered for the notice becomes the foundation for the next stage.

Practical checklist

Before you send, check the notice against s 12A and the publisher’s likely questions.

• Identify the publisher correctly. For a Google review, the author; for a Facebook group post, the member who posted and, where relevant, the page that hosts it. Keep the URL and the date you captured it.
• Write imputations as meanings. State what a reasonable reader would understand the words to mean about the person, not just that the words are false. This is the part the court will hold you to.
• Link harm to facts. Name the serious harm you rely on and tie it to evidence you can produce, such as messages from customers, booking records or a supplier email.
• Check excluded corporation status. If the claimant is a company, confirm whether it can sue and whether the notice must address financial loss.
• Keep the offer period clear. State that you seek an offer to make amends and note the applicable period, so the publisher knows the clock has started.

A notice that is specific on these points is more likely to produce a correction, removal or apology without proceedings, and it preserves your position if an offer is not made.

Keep a copy of the notice, proof of delivery, any reply and the publication as it stood at the time you sent it. Those records become the timeline the court reviews if the matter proceeds.

See Also

• Defamation law in Queensland: the complete guide
• The serious harm threshold in Queensland
• Received a defamation letter?
• Legal Matters Ep 6: defamation cases

This page provides general legal information only; it is not personal legal advice. Everyone’s situation is different, so please seek independent legal advice for your own circumstances.