---
title: "Concerns notice under the uniform Defamation Acts (with UK letter-of-claim and NZ variants)"
url: "https://ailawframework.com/precedents/defamation-and-media-law/concerns-notice"
type: "precedent"
site: "AI Law Framework"
id: "a33-concerns-notice"
area_id: "A33"
kind: "notice"
ai_level: "red"
version: 1
law_stated_as_at: "2026-10-17"
---

# Concerns notice under the uniform Defamation Acts (with UK letter-of-claim and NZ variants)

> A concerns notice built to the s 12A requirements, with an internal check of every statutory element, the 28-day offer period and the limitation dates. Short UK and NZ variants are included.

Canonical page: https://ailawframework.com/precedents/defamation-and-media-law/concerns-notice  
Law stated as at: 2026-10-17

Site index for agents: https://ailawframework.com/llms.txt

## Key facts

- Kind: Notice. A formal notice to serve or publish.
- Practice area: [Defamation & Media Law](https://ailawframework.com/precedents/defamation-and-media-law.md)
- Jurisdictions: Australia, New South Wales, United Kingdom (England and Wales), New Zealand
- AI level: Red. Keep AI out of the decisive steps. A lawyer does the work.
- Law stated as at: 2026-10-17
- Status: Maintained. Checked on 2026-10-17 against the 11 authorities it cites, for 4 jurisdictions.

## When to use it

Use before suing for defamation in any State or Territory that adopted the Stage 1 amendments, where a concerns notice is a precondition to proceedings. Do not use as an originating document, and adapt it for Western Australia, England and Wales or New Zealand.

## How AI may be used

Lawyer-led. AI may organise publication particulars and dates from the saved capture; the imputations, the serious harm particulars and every date are settled by the lawyer.

**AI may:**

- Extract the publisher, URL, headline, byline, dates and audience figures from the saved capture into a table
- Build the date list (first upload, notice given, end of applicable period, limitation date) for the lawyer to check against the statute
- Compare the draft notice with the s 12A checklist and list any missing element

**AI must not:**

- Must not formulate or choose the imputations of concern or the serious harm particulars
- Must not quote the matter from an AI summary or AI transcript instead of the captured original
- Must not be given the client's confidential reputational or financial evidence unless the tool's terms bar retention of, and training on, inputs

**The lawyer checks:**

- Each imputation is one the client will plead, drafted as a precise proposition
- Every s 12A(1) element is present and the notice is given by a s 44 method, with proof kept
- Applicable-period and limitation dates, including any s 14B extension, are calculated and diarised
- A corporate client meets the s 9 excluded-corporation test before the notice is sent

## Authorities

- [Defamation Act 2005 (NSW) s 12A (concerns notices)](https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2005-077#sec.12A)
- [Defamation Act 2005 (NSW) s 12B (proceedings cannot be commenced without concerns notice)](https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2005-077#sec.12B)
- [Defamation Act 2005 (NSW) s 10A (serious harm element)](https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2005-077#sec.10A)
- [Defamation Act 2005 (NSW) s 9 (excluded corporations)](https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2005-077#sec.9)
- [Defamation Act 2005 (NSW) s 14 (applicable period for an offer to make amends)](https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2005-077#sec.14)
- [Defamation Act 2005 (NSW) s 44 (giving of notices)](https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2005-077#sec.44)
- [Limitation Act 1969 (NSW) ss 14B, 56A (defamation limitation period, 56-day extension and court extension)](https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-1969-031#sec.14B)
- [Defamation Act 2005 (WA) s 14](https://www.legislation.wa.gov.au/legislation/statutes.nsf/main_mrtitle_260_homepage.html)
- [Defamation Act 2013 (UK) s 1](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/2013/26/section/1)
- [Pre-Action Protocol for Media and Communications Claims (England and Wales)](https://www.justice.gov.uk/courts/procedure-rules/civil/protocol/prot_def)
- [Defamation Act 1992 (NZ) s 25](https://www.legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1992/0105/latest/whole.html)

## Official form

[Official form](https://legislation.nsw.gov.au/view/html/inforce/current/act-2005-077)

## Full text and drafting notes

The full text and the drafting notes are not part of this public page. Signed-in firm accounts can read them at https://ailawframework.com/precedents/defamation-and-media-law/concerns-notice and through the signed-in MCP connector https://ailawframework.com/mcp/firm.

*Practice guidance for planning and review. Confirm current primary sources and the requirements of the actual matter. This is general information, not legal advice.*