John, In Australia there is basically no restriction at all on who or what you can take photos of if you are on public property. If you are on private property (which includes shopping centres and council owned land) then the property owner has the right to set the rules. A lot of the time the restrictions are a mixture of bluff and ignorance. Remember, we have no bill of rights so we have no inalienable rights, and specifically no right of privacy. Putting it another way, our rights as photographers stem from other people's lack of rights to prevent us taking photos.
This link ( http://www.4020.net/unposed/photorights.shtml ) explains it in more detail and includes copyright too. From reading it, there is no bar to street photography and no model release is required for non-commercial work, including selling prints regardless of how much you are charging. Using someone's image for advertising and the like is different and does require a release. A couple of weeks ago one of the members of the Geelong Camera Club was hassled by the local Police for taking photos of a local chemical refinery at sunset. He stood his ground and the next night the Police Minister was on TV explaining that in fact he was perfectly legal to take photos in public, regardless of the subject. The TV footage then cut to a bunch of camera club members all lined up at the refinery taking photos! One of them had a Pentax 6x7. Having said all of that, there's no point being in the right if it gets you a broken nose from an irate parent. Regards, Paul Ewins Melbourne, Australia -----Original Message----- From: John Coyle [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Monday, January 30, 2006 6:47 PM To: pentax-discuss@pdml.net Subject: Re: My Home Town Some really nice shots there Jens, it looks a nice place to live. Good job you don't live in Brisbane, our local paper reported today that all sorts of people are coming down heavily on photography of children in public places, with even parents having to seek permission to take photos of their own kids if there might be others in shot! The gauleiters are at it again... John Coyle Brisbane, Australia ----- Original Message ----- From: "Jens Bladt" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <pentax-discuss@pdml.net> Sent: Monday, January 30, 2006 12:24 PM Subject: GESO: My Home Town > For those who might be interested; here's a slide show of photographs from > my home town. > Please allow some time for the photographs to load. Warning: A fast > internet > connection is necessary. > Windows (IE) users may press F11 for a full screen. > The time for each slide can be adjusted at the right hand side, below the > image. > All images are shot with a Pentax *ist D, most of them utilizing a SMC > Pentax lens. > Enjoy: http://www.jensbladt.dk/Nykoege/newfile.html > > Sorry for the inconvenience of my using the three "extra" Scandinavian > letters > > Regards > Jens > > > Jens Bladt > http://www.jensbladt.dk > > >