Herald Sun censured by press watchdog for saying dole claimants ‘milking the taxpayer’

Tim Burrowes

February 8, 2016 10:04

The Herald Sun breached press standards by stating that dole recipients were “milking the tax payer”, the journalism watchdog has ruled.

According to an adjudication published today by the Australian Press Council, the statement breached rules on accuracy and fairness.

The article was written by The Daily Telegraph’s national political reporter Daniel Meers and ran across a number of News Corp titles including the Herald Sun in Melbourne and Daily Telegraph in Sydney, on July 6 last year. Today’s ruling focuses on the Herald Sun’s treatment of the article because the investigation was triggered by a reader of that masthead.

At the time of posting, the article is still live on The Tele’s website

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Tim Burrowes

Tim Burrowes is the publisher of Mumbrella and Unmade. He co-founded Mumbrella in 2008 and sister title Unmade in 2021. He's worked in the UK, Middle East, Asia & Australia and has specialised in writing about the communications world for the last 25 years. He wrote the book Media Unmade, published in 2021, and became the presenter of MediaLand on ABC Radio National in 2025.