Stories about the origin of a tennis ace-turned-politician's relationship with his wife will be a "test case" of Australia's privacy exemption for media.

Victorian Liberal deputy leader Sam Groth is suing the Herald Sun over a series of stories in late July questioning when he began his relationship with his now-wife Brittany.

The three News Corp stories remain up online, including the original article penned by journalist Stephen Drill titled "How Liberal Party is courting controversy with Sam Groth".

The Groths allege the articles were defamatory and breached Ms Groth's privacy under federal tort laws that came into effect in June.

Professional journalists and media publishers are exempt when collecting information for preparation to publish or publication of material that has the "c

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