Doxxing involves searching for and pub­lish­ing private or identi­fy­ing inform­a­tion about a par­tic­u­lar indi­vidu­al or indi­vidu­als without their consent on the internet, usually to a hostile audience and with malicious intent.  What follows is not intended to be legal advice, and should not be inter­preted that way.  It is a general inform­a­tion guide only that might help you when you consult your legal adviser about your par­tic­u­lar cir­cum­stances.  If you are concerned about personal safety, please contact the Community Security Group in your State.

Criminal offence:  Section 474.17 of the Criminal Code (Cth) makes it an offence to menace, harass or offend someone using a carriage service. (A carriage service includes the internet and social media).  This would need to be reported to the police.  There would need to be evidence proving the elements of the offence (including menace, har­ass­ment or offence) beyond reas­on­able doubt.  If you go to the police, cite this law. It is your right to make a complaint and have it recorded. Ask for an “event number”. Keep a record of it. Send the record of your complaint and the event number to the CSG in your State. If the police refuse to record the complaint or supply an event number, report this to the CSG, and provide details to them.

Another option is to report the incident as cyber­crime via:  https://www.cyber.gov.au/report-and-recover/report. Send a record of your complaint to the CSG in your State.

• Local or Federal police? – There has been some confusion about whether to report to your local police or to Aus­trali­an Federal Police. Most victims do both.

eSafety Com­mis­sion­er: The Aus­trali­an Government’s eSafety Com­mis­sion­er has powers to address adult cyber abuse (which can include doxxing), including the power to have harmful content removed by social media providers and users. The Com­mis­sion­er also offers a range of coun­selling and other services. See here for more inform­a­tion: https://www.esafety.gov.au/key-topics/adult-cyber-abuse

Employ­ment:  If you are employed and your employer takes adverse action against you (eg ter­min­a­tion of your employ­ment or a change for the worse in your employ­ment con­di­tions) based on inform­a­tion that has been revealed about you, you might have a legal remedy under the law of employ­ment. For example, the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) provides certain pro­tec­tions for employees against ter­min­a­tion of their employ­ment or other adverse action by their employer by reason of the employee’s race, religion or political opinions.  These statutory pro­tec­tions over-ride any contrary pro­vi­sions in your employ­ment contract, including codes of conduct.

Damage to your business:  If you own a business which suffers loss or damage as a result of the pub­lic­a­tion of private or identi­fy­ing inform­a­tion about you without your consent, legal remedies might be available to you under the Com­pet­i­tion and Consumer Act 2010 (Cth) and its Schedule 2, the Aus­trali­an Consumer Law, which contains anti-boycott pro­vi­sions, pro­tec­tions against har­ass­ment and coercion in relation to the supply of goods or services and pro­hib­i­tions against mis­lead­ing and deceptive conduct in trade and commerce.

Breach of con­fid­ence: If someone has used or disclosed inform­a­tion about you that was provided by you con­fid­en­tially (such as in a con­fid­en­tial dis­cus­sion or forum), or which they obtained sur­repti­tiously (such as through hacking), the inform­a­tion may be subject to an equitable duty of con­fid­ence. This could entitle you to remedies such as restrain­ing further use of the con­fid­en­tial inform­a­tion and destruc­tion of any copies of the inform­a­tion held by the person.

Personal loss or damage: Other remedies might be available to you under the general law if, for example, if you suffer psy­chi­at­ric harm (ie a dia­gnos­able illness and not mere psy­cho­lo­gic­al distress), or can prove that there is an imminent risk that you will suffer psy­chi­at­ric harm, you might have an action against those respons­ible for the tort of har­ass­ment. There are also cir­cum­stances where someone may assume a duty of care such that they may be liable to you in neg­li­gence if you suffer action­able loss or damage.

Defam­a­tion or injurious falsehood: The way inform­a­tion about you has been published might state or imply something negative about you which damages your repu­ta­tion.  You might have an action against the publisher for damages for the tort of defam­a­tion. If someone has knowingly stated something about you that is false, you may also have an action against them for injurious falsehood.

Racial or religious vili­fic­a­tion: If you believe you have been publicly vilified or dis­crim­in­ated against on the basis of race or religion then you can make a complaint to the Aus­trali­an Human Rights Com­mis­sion (racial vili­fic­a­tion only) and/or your State or Territory anti-dis­crim­in­a­tion body.

You don’t have to be a victim.  Many legal firms will offer you a first con­sulta­tion without charge.  Others have pro bono programs to provide legal services for those who cannot afford them.

It is not expensive to have your solicitor send a warning letter to those who have engaged in doxxing or acted against you based on doxxed material.  That alone can give pause to many wrong-doers.  Whether you take any further action after that will be your choice.

To report a doxxing incident and to receive further advice, please email: [email protected]

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