Latest Adjudications

The Press Council considered whether its Standards of Practice were breached by the publication of a cartoon in The Age and The Sydney Morning Herald on 7 January 2026 captioned “Grass roots”. The cartoon depicts a crowd of figures above a strip of grass, holding placards and calling for a Royal Commission. The figures above represent various groups including lawyers, business people, sports identities, and Labor figures, with signs reading  ”Business People for RC”, "Lawyers for a Royal Com", "Sports Greats for a RC", "Labor Has Beens for RC" and "Dogs for a RC". One figure has a thought bubble reading "Don't mention the war." In the background there is a figure carrying a megaphone agitating for a Royal Commission. In the foreground, are a number of identifiable political figures - David Littleproud, Sussan Ley, Jacinta Price, John Howard, Jillian Segal and Rupert Murdoch - who are carrying the grass above their heads as they march along. Separate from this group and to the far right, is a figure resembling the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, beating a drum accompanied by the words “Boom Boom”.

The Press Council considered a complaint from former ACT Chief prosecutor, Shane Drumgold, concerning three articles published by The Australian in March and May 2024. The articles are: “Shane Drumgold’s reputation remains in tatters” online 4 March 2024; “DPP’s reputation remains in tatters” in print 5 March 2025;  “Losing its faculties: university employs disgraced Drumgold to teach law students” in print 6 March 2024; “Shane Drumgold lands new job teaching law to Canberra students” online 6 March 2024; "Territory justice in full retreat at DPP" in print 22 May 2024 and "'Only in the ACT’? Justice is now in full retreat at DPP", online 22 May 2024.

The Press Council considered whether its Standards of Practice were breached by an article published in The Australian headed “Palestinians are complicit in the horror of Hamas” 17 January 2025 in print; “World waits to hear fate of little Kfir, Israel’s youngest hostage” 16 January 2025 online; and “Kfir Bibas was just 262 days old when the gorillas of Gaza called. If he has been kept alive by these black-hearted Arabs, then God help him. If he has been murdered by Gazans, then God help them”, Social media 16 January 2025.

The Press Council considered whether its Standards of Practice were breached by an article published in print on 4 December 2024 in The Daily Telegraph headed “To keep peace at home, Labor backs Hamas”.

 The Press Council considered whether its Standards of Practice were breached by a series of front-page articles published on 2 December 2024 headed “DARK AGES” in The Advertiser and The Daily Telegraph, and “STEP ON THE GAS” in The Courier Mail and the Herald Sun and an online article headed “Australia’s new Dark Ages: Gas offers energy crisis lifeline as summer blackout warnings are bought forward”.

The Press Council considered a complaint from Yoti Ltd concerning an article published by Crikey on 14 June 2024, headed “I tricked a selfie AI age-verification tool into letting a child ‘buy’ a knife" (Online).

The Press Council considered whether its Standards of Practice were breached by the publication of a cartoon in the Herald Sun on 21 May 2024 captioned “AUSTRALIA’S FRONT DOOR”. The cartoon depicts Prime Minister Anthony Albanese winding up a drawbridge with Opposition Leader Peter Dutton striding bare chested towards him saying “STEP ASIDE ALBO”.

The Press Council considered whether its Standards of Practice were breached by an article published in The Advertiser headed “200M FOR TERRORISTS” / “Wong under fire for latest grant to Hamas-infiltrated UN group”, 30 January 2024 in print.

The Press Council considered whether its Standards of Practice were breached by an article published in the Herald Sun headed “Top cop claims Director of Public Prosecutions knocked back police requests to prosecute racists”, 21 October 2023 online and “Police: DPP set racism high bar”, 22 October 2023 in print.

The Press Council considered whether its Standards of Practice were breached by a video published by The Daily Telegraph on its social media platforms on 12 November 2023. The video was titled “Terrifying CCTV footage has emerged of the moment a Melbourne burger store exploded in flames that sparked pro-Palestinian protests exploded in flames”.

The Press Council considered whether its Standards of Practice were breached by a homepage item published by news.com.au on 15 November 2023 headed “DARK ISLAMIC THREAT: Terrifying one-word warning after store bomb”.

The Press Council considered whether its Standards of Practice were breached by an article published in The Australian on 13 June 2023, headed “’Gender affirming’ care is destroying vulnerable kids” in print and “Why ‘gender affirming’ care is destroying our most vulnerable kids” online.

The Press Council considered a complaint from Townsville Hospital and Health Service (the hospital) concerning two articles published in print and online in The Courier Mail and the Sunday Mail.

The Press Council considered whether its Standards of Practice were breached by an article published by The Australian online on 28 March 2023, headed "Trans female kills 3 children, 3 staff at Nashville Covenant School” which linked to a homepage headline “Trans woman kills 3 children, 3 staff at US school”.

The Press Council considered a complaint from Curtis Pitt, Speaker of the Queensland Parliament concerning an article published by the Courier Mail, headed “Activists in court is a terrible look” in print and online on 1 February 2023.