ACMA given leave to contest 2DayFM ruling in Australia’s highest court over nurse prank call

The prolonged court battle between the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) and Southern Cross Austereo’s 2DayFM over the right to publish a contentious report into a prank call which led to the suicide of a British nurse is set to be heard by Australia’s highest court.

Last Friday the ACMA was given leave to appeal to the High Court of Australia against a ruling in March in favour of the radio station preventing it from publishing a report which is understood to find the station committed a criminal offence by airing the prank call.

The case relates to the death of nurse Jacintha Saldanha, who took her own life in December 2012 after she had put through a prank call by hosts Mel Greig and Michael ‘MC’ Christian, who were impersonating Prince Charles and The Queen, to the ward where the then pregnant Duchess of Cambridge was being treated for acute morning sickness.

In March the Federal Court upheld an appeal by 2DayFM which had claimed the ACMA was acting as “accuser and fact finder” in creating the report, which is believed to state the station breached the NSW Surveillance Devices Act by airing the secretly recorded call without seeking permission from the nurse or hospital.