Australia mulls privacy laws

SYDNEY, Australia - Australia on Thursday moved to introduce a legal right to privacy after the phone-hacking scandal in Britain, paving the way for people to sue media organizations for serious breaches.

The move follows media tycoon Rupert Murdoch's grilling by British MPs over a furore that saw him close his News of the World tabloid and dump a bid for pay-TV giant BSkyB because people's voicemail had been illegally accessed.

Laws are already in place in Australia to deal with criminal offences related to privacy abuses but there is no statutory right to sue.