This was the situation in a nutshell. Both Laws and Price were referring to "poofs" (the Oz word for a homosexual, something like "fags") on air.
This was the outcome of the lawsuit.
Today, the ADT ordered that they all make public apologies and pay legal costs in the matter.
Laws and Price have been ordered to make public apologies on air, and Radio 2UE has been ordered to print an apology in three major metropolitan newspapers.
People, the times are a changin'. It's important to note one thing here. Such language is often used by "common people" in the street and at pubs, and vilification laws mainly affect public utterances, (inciting ridicule or hatred) not what people think or say in private. Considering the popularity of both Laws and Price, Gary Burns felt that they were in a position to "incite hatred". Now here's the irony. Gays will often lightheartedly refer to themselves as "poofs", so it is the intent that counts here. Vilification laws only extend to public comments, not private. Even on message boards they will unlikely have any force, unless someone like a Gary Burns took it up with an influential poster, for example (and I'm only talking about Australian law, not the US).
If I, as a cab driver, referred to a black customer of mine as a "nigger", not only would I lose my job, I would face hefty fines.
Vilification in the workplace also extends to religious vilification. It is illegal to discriminate against a person on the grounds of their religious beliefs.