RSTP2012 - Information notice restrictions: Journalistic material

RSTPA guidance on the restrictions which apply to information notices regarding journalistic material.

An information notice cannot require you to produce ‘journalistic material’ or provide information from journalistic material.

‘Journalistic material’ means material acquired or created for the purposes of journalism. This means for example that an investigative journalist could not be required by an information notice to disclose source material.

Material is journalistic material only if it is:

  • in the possession of a person who acquired or created it for the purposes of journalism, that is a journalist; or
  • unsolicited material sent to a person with the intention of it being used for journalism.

Material is either journalistic or it is not. There is no provision for partial access to journalistic material such as there is to ‘personal records’ (see RSTP2011).

RSTPA 2014 section 136

Ref ID

RSTP2012

Archive Date

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