News Journalism Payments Bill 2026, News Journalism Payments (Consequential Amendments) Bill 2026

Ms BERRY (Whitlam) (18:29): By introducing the News Journalism Payments Bill 2026 and related bills, the Albanese Labor government is supporting local journalism and standing up for some key pillars of Australian values and society. We are protecting the news that matters, we are protecting Australian jobs, we are promoting fairness and we are supporting a healthy democracy.

Local journalism in Australia faces a serious challenge. The problem is not that people have fewer stories to tell, or that the news is any less important—far from it. The problem is that the economics of journalism have become a whole lot tougher, especially if you are producing local content.

The decline of traditional newspaper advertising, the migration of audiences to digital platforms and the financial pressures facing media organisations have reduced the resources available for vibrant newsrooms in many communities. Revenue from advertising that used to help pay for Australian journalists is now shifted to large global digital platforms. A small number of global digital platforms now capture significant digital advertising revenue, while many Australian news businesses remain under significant financial pressure.

Some regional areas have become so-called news deserts, where there are few, if any, journalists regularly covering local affairs. With fewer journalists reporting on local issues, there are fewer journalists holding those in power to account. Into that vacuum enters social media.

Social media can spread information quickly, but it does not replace quality professional journalism. A social media post can be valuable for a campaign or to distribute information, but often these posts are not fact-checked or referenced against multiple sources, which is the expectation we have of objective and ethical journalism. Misinformation becomes accepted fact, and anger and grievance can be unduly amplified.

Without action, Australians risk losing local and regional news services, media diversity, public interest journalism and democratic accountability. This is a major concern for local news and local jobs and a concern for Australian democracy itself. By introducing this legislation, the Albanese Labor government is supporting local news organisations in my electorate of Whitlam and across the country.

In short, we are protecting the news that matters. For example, when we saw an increase of domestic violence incidents in our local community, that was reported on by the local press. When there are issues around bed blocking in our local hospitals, this is covered by our local press.

When there have been governance issues with our local university, this has been covered by our local press. When there are road closures due to upgrades of our roads, our local press reports the construction and the impact on nearby residents. When a new community mural was painted, promoting random acts of connection during Loneliness Awareness Week, our local press covered this story and promoted its message.

When one of our local councils passed a resolution adopting a tiny homes pilot program, it was our local news that shared how this can affect and benefit our community. These are the stories that only local media outlets cover. These are the stories that affect the everyday lives of people in my electorate, strengthening local communities and enhancing local connections.

And this is the news that matters. By introducing this bill, the Albanese Labor government is protecting the news that matters. This news becomes particularly important during a crisis.

Australia has experienced devastating bushfires, floods, droughts and other emergencies. During such events, people need accurate information about roads, evacuation centres, warnings, weather and emergency services. Local news also strengthens social connections.

Local journalism can report on community events, sporting clubs, cultural festivals, local achievements and the important work of volunteers. These stories may not appear significant from a national perspective, but they contribute enormously to a sense of belonging. Australians need journalism produced in their own communities by people who understand those communities while also being exposed to perspectives beyond their immediate concerns.

Through this legislation, the Albanese Labor government is also protecting Australian workers, particularly those in regional areas such as my electorate of Whitlam, and these local jobs are critically important. Local journalists often have a deep knowledge of their communities and can communicate information in ways that are relevant to local audiences. Their reporting can help people understand not just what is happening nationally but what is happening in their own community.

Diversity is equally important. Australia is a multicultural, multilingual and geographically diverse country. Where newsrooms include journalists with diverse backgrounds and perspectives, they ask questions that give voice to a more diverse range of issues.

Diverse journalism can challenge assumptions about who matters, whose experience deserves attention and what constitutes an important story. This is especially significant for communities that have historically received limited news coverage. First Nations media, multicultural media and community based outlets can tell stories from perspectives that larger organisations might overlook.

In Australia, where distance, cultural diversity and regional inequality can often separate people from one another, local journalism helps create the shared knowledge on which democratic participation depends. National reporting helps Australians understand the country. Local reporting helps them understand where they live.

Diverse reporting helps them understand one another. Australians believe in fairness. When global digital platforms benefit from the work of Australian media organisations and journalists, we expect them to pay their fair share.

Australians expect that, if you produce a piece of content, you should benefit from the proceeds. If your article is featured on a digital platform's website, you should receive some benefit from any revenue that results from your article being there. If platforms derive value from Australian news, they should help to sustain it.

These bills work to fix just that. Through these bills, the Albanese Labor government is also supporting a healthy democracy, and a healthy democracy depends on more than just elections. It depends on citizens having access to reliable information, hearing a range of perspectives and being able to understand how and why decisions are being made and whether they are being made in the interests of their communities.

For Australia, this makes diverse, locally made and locally focused news particularly important. From metropolitan newspapers and public broadcasters to regional newspapers, community radio, independent digital outlets and First Nations media, locally produced journalism helps Australians understand the issues that affect their lives and gives communities a voice in the democratic process.

One of the most important roles of journalism in any democracy is to provide citizens with the information they need to make informed decisions. Australians vote for governments at a federal, state and local level, but political decisions can often seem distant or not grounded in everyday community experience. National news can explain major issues such as the economy, climate change, immigration or foreign policy, but it can't always show how these issues affect a particular town, suburb or region.

But local journalists can. They can report on a council decision that will change a neighbourhood, a hospital facing funding pressures, a local school struggling to attract teachers or a regional community dealing with drought or flooding. This makes democracy tangible and relevant.

People can see the connection between public decisions and their everyday lives. Democracy also relies on accountability, and politicians, councils, government departments and other powerful institutions are more likely to face scrutiny when journalists are present in the communities they serve. A local reporter can attend council meetings, speak regularly with residents and follow an issue for months or even years.

This sustained attention can uncover problems that need to be exposed in order for better decisions to be made. Without local journalism, decisions affecting thousands of people can sometimes receive little or no independent scrutiny. Citizens need to know whether promises have been kept, whether public money is being spent appropriately and whether people in positions of authority are acting in the public interest.

Local journalism can provide this oversight at a level where national media cannot always operate effectively. Good journalism informs people and challenges governments, corporations and popular assumptions. Its value lies in independent reporting, verification and a willingness to investigate matters that those in power may prefer to keep hidden.

A strong democracy should not depend entirely on a small number of large media organisations deciding which stories deserve national attention. Ultimately, democracy works best when people can see themselves in the media, hear voices different from their own and obtain trustworthy information about the decisions shaping their lives. These bills establish the administrative framework for the news bargaining incentive.

The purpose of this incentive is clear: we want platforms and news businesses to do commercial deals to help sustain our local journalism. These bills apply criteria to identify the largest digital platforms with significant search or social media services and substantial Australian digital advertising revenue. We will target those platforms with the greatest market power and the greatest capacity to contribute.

This is not about raising revenue for government. Any revenue raised will be returned in full to the Australian news sector through the news journalism payments scheme. These bills ensure digital platforms that benefit from Australian news contribute to its long-term sustainability.

The government's approach is practical, market based and designed to support a sustainable, diverse and independent Australian news sector. These measures build on and strengthen the world-leading news media bargaining code, which has been in place since March 2021, ensuring it remains effective in a changing digital environment. Public interest journalism is a public good, and addressing the bargaining imbalance between digital platforms and Australian news businesses is essential to sustaining quality Australian journalism.

The news bargaining incentive, the NBI, applies a 2.5 per cent charge to Australian digital advertising revenue earned by significant search and social media services. The government's clear preference is for platforms and news businesses to reach commercial agreements rather than for platforms to pay the charge. Platforms can reduce their NBI liability through eligible commercial agreements, with offsets of 150 per cent or 200 per cent for agreements with small and medium news businesses.

Platforms must have agreements with at least eight eligible news organisations to reduce their NBI liability to nil, with no single agreement accounting for more than 25 per cent of their total liability, supporting diversity across the sector. These bills recognise good-faith commercial agreements entered into since 1 January 2025 by allowing them to offset NBI liabilities, reflecting the government's clear commencement date for the NBI.

Payments under the news journalism payments scheme will be allocated based on the number of journalists and organisation employees, including freelancers, recognising that the more journalists that are employed, the greater the investment in public interest journalism. Using journalists as the basis for payments recognises the essential work they do in investigating, analysing, reporting and producing the news that Australians rely on.

Together, these bills strengthen the news media bargaining code, supporting commercial investment in Australian journalism, returning any incentive revenue to the sector and helping to secure a sustainable, diverse and independent news media industry for the future.