He expressed concern about aNSW Supreme Court decision handed down in June that found media companies liable for defamatory comments made on their public Facebook pages by users of the platform. Mr Porter labelled the ruling"very curious"and said it made the playing field less even,declaring reform was necessary.

Mr Porter also backed a"first wave"of changes in the national defamation reform process. He called for the introduction of a serious harm threshold to prevent frivolous claims and a clarified cap on damages. He also endorsed a new defence for"responsible communication on a matter of public interest",akin to a feature of New Zealand law he said was working well.

NSW Attorney-General Mark Speakman will push for the changes at a meeting with Mr Porter and other attorneys-general next Friday. The gathering will finalise draft changes to the Model Defamation Provisions that underpin defamation laws in all jurisdictions in Australia. Under the review timeline,reforms are intended to be legislated next year.

On Wednesday,Mr Porter also conceded there were problems with freedom of information laws,which media companies want reformed. He said there was"room for significant improvement"in the area and there had been examples of"poor responses"by government departments.