[zmimon]

> does Australia have constitutional or otherwise legally protected free speech

No. Australians have no direct freedoms at all. What rights they have are "implied" indirectly from other things such as that the federal government shall not restrict trade between the states (it's hard to trade if you can't talk ...). People talk from time to time about strengthening individual rights, but most Aussies couldn't care less and due to mandatory voting those that don't care will vote down just about any constitutional amendment making it extremely difficult for such reform to ever happen.

[EricBurnett]

Not entirely correct. Australia ratified the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and is part of the United Nations.

From Wikipedia: "While not a treaty itself, the Declaration was explicitly adopted for the purpose of defining the meaning of the words "fundamental freedoms" and "human rights" appearing in the United Nations Charter, which is binding on all member states. For this reason, the Universal Declaration is a fundamental constitutive document of the United Nations."

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Universal_Declaration_of_Human_...