Bill
News Journalism Payments Bill 2026
passed, as at 2026-08-26. Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts portfolio.
- Sponsor
- Not recorded
- Portfolio
- Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts
Recorded stages
- introduced — 2026-08-13
- second reading — 2026-08-13
- second reading — 2026-08-18
- second reading — 2026-08-19
- committee — 2026-08-19
- third reading — 2026-08-19
- introduced — 2026-08-20
- second reading — 2026-08-20
- second reading — 2026-08-20
- second reading — 2026-08-20
- third reading — 2026-08-20
- passed — 2026-08-20
- royal assent — 2026-08-26
Divisions
- Sharon Claydon In accordance with standing order 133, I shall now proceed to put the question on the amendment to the motion moved for the second reading of the News Journalism Payments Bill of 2026, on which a division was called for and deferred in accordance with the standing order. No further debate is allowed. The question is that the amendment moved by the honourable member for Lindsay be agreed to. — 2026-08-19, House of Representatives: negative, ayes 40, noes 83
- Anthony Albanese Right around the world, the organisations that invest in the news are losing revenue to the tech platforms that use their work. Television, radio and newspaper newsrooms, including the National Press Gallery here in Parliament House, have felt the effects through budget cuts, staff reductions and increased workloads. I want to say to Australia's journalists, news producers, editors, photographers and videographers: we have your back. The sustainability of our news sector must be addressed, and it must be addressed urgently, because a healthy news sector is essential for a flourishing democracy. Without broadly accepted objective facts, reasoned debate becomes impossible. We talk not to each other but past each other. It makes it harder for us to maintain our great Australian sense of optimism. We literally stop being on the same page. This legislation will help keep 28 million Australians on that same page. In a world where lies are routinely spread by bad actors, sometimes by images that are literally not real, truthful and accurate news is more important than ever. In its absence, debate is too often replaced by anger, discourse by shouting, democratic discussion by abuse and cooperation by division. As we all know, this trend, tragically, is global. But we can counter it. With this legislation, Australia is now once again taking leadership on making digital technology work for people—making sure that platforms make an appropriate contribution to the news that they rely on and from which they make enormous profits. We are showing the way to support the fourth estate, and, once again, we offer our policy as a model to the democratic world. The News Bargaining Incentive is world-leading legislation that will help keep our media sector vibrant and sustainable into the future. It is bipartisan, and it is strong. The original news media bargaining code was designed to give Australian media companies a fair shot at doing deals with some of the largest c — 2026-08-19, House of Representatives: negative, ayes 11, noes 69
- Sue Lines Pursuant to order agreed on 18 August 2026, the time allotted for consideration of 12 bills has expired. I'll now put the question on the remaining stages of the bills. The question is that the second reading amendment on sheet 4012, to the News Media Bargaining (Administration) Bill 2026 and related bills, be agreed to. — 2026-08-20, Senate: negative, ayes 13, noes 29
- Sue Lines I advise senators that, if further divisions are required, there will be one-minute bells. The question is that these bills be now read a second time. Question agreed to. Bills read a second time. I'll now deal with the Committee of the Whole amendments circulated by the opposition. The question is that the opposition's amendments on sheet 4007, to the News Journalism Payments Bill 2026, be agreed to. _Opposition's circulated a_ _mendments_ _to the_ _News Journalism Payments Bill 2026_ (1) Clause 11, page 12 (line 21), at the end of subclause (1), add: ; or (c) providing opinion or commentary on core news content. (2) Clause 11, page 12 (line 30) to page 13 (line 4), omit subclause (2), substitute: (2) However, a role is not an _eligible editorial role_ if the role is primarily any of the following: (a) narrator, anchor or presenter; (b) sports commentator; (c) actor (including actors involved in re-enactment); (d) effects or design professional. — 2026-08-20, Senate: negative, ayes 23, noes 35
- Sue Lines I'll now deal with the amendments circulated by the Australian Greens. The question is that the amendments on sheet 3999, to the News Media Bargaining (Administration) Bill 2026, and on sheet 4006, to the News Journalism Payments Bill 2026, be agreed to. _Australian Greens_ _'_ _circulated amendment to the News Media Bargaining (Administration) Bill 2026_ SHEET 3999 (1) Clause 20, page 23 (line 15), omit "one-quarter", substitute "17%". \_\_\_\_\_ _Australian Greens_ _'_ _circulated amendments to the News Journalism Payments Bill 2026_ SHEET 4006 (1) Clause 3, page 3 (lines 23 to 26), omit the paragraph beginning "Also, 5% of the revenue", substitute: (2) Clause 40, page 39 (line 12), omit "10%", substitute "20%". (3) Clause 44, page 43 (line 7), omit "10%", substitute "20%". (4) Clause 93, page 87 (line 5), omit "10%", substitute "20%". (5) Clause 93, page 87 (lines 8 to 12), omit the paragraph beginning "5% of collected charge revenue", substitute: (6) Clause 94, page 88 (after line 11), after subclause (1), insert: (1A) In deciding which eligible entities (if any) to make a grant of financial assistance to under subsection (1), the Secretary must give priority to eligible entities that are not approved participants for the payment period during the which the grant under subsection (1) would be paid. (7) Clause 94, page 88 (lines 15 to 17), omit the definition of _eligible entity_, substitute: _annual income_, for an individual, a partnership, a trust or a body corporate, means the amount for the individual, partnership, trust or body corporate that is worked out in accordance with regulations made for the purposes of this definition. _eligible entity_ means an individual, a partnership, a trust or a body corporate (other than corporation to which paragraph 51(xx) of the Constitution applies) that has an annual income of less than $20 million. (8) Clause 95, page 88 (after line 25), after subclause (1), insert: (1A) In deciding which eligible grant recip — 2026-08-20, Senate: negative, ayes 10, noes 34
- Sue Lines I will now deal with the amendments circulated by Senator David Pocock. The question is that clauses 98 and 99 on sheet 4010 of the News Media Bargaining (Administration) Bill 2026 stand as printed. _Senator D_ _avid_ _Pocock's circulated amendment_ _to_ _the News Media Bargaining (Administration) Bill 202_ _6_ (27) Clauses 98 and 99, page 90 (lines 1 to 18), to be opposed. — 2026-08-20, Senate: affirmative, ayes 33, noes 10
- Sue Lines The question is that the amendments on sheet 4011 and the remaining amendments on sheet 4010, as moved by Senator Pocock, be agreed to. _Senator David Pocock's circulated amendments to the_ _News Journalism Payments Bill 2026_ (1) Clause 3, page 3 (lines 23 to 26), omit the paragraph beginning "Also, 5% of the revenue", substitute: _Grants Administrator_ means the body established by the Minister under section 105A. (3) Clause 9, page 11 (lines 11 and 12), omit "if the corporation is an eligible low-revenue corporation—the FTE number", substitute "the FTE number". (4) Clause 11, page 13 (after line 4), at the end of the clause, add: (3) To avoid doubt, a role that is an eligible editorial role under subsection (1) does not cease to be an eligible editorial role merely because the role also involves being a narrator, anchor or presenter, so long as the role is not primarily that of a narrator, anchor of presenter. (5) Clause 16, page 16 (lines 21 and 22), omit "eligible low-revenue corporation", substitute "eligible corporation". (6) Clause 16, page 16 (line 32) to page 17 (line 7), omit paragraphs 16(1)(e) and (f). (7) Clause 16, page 17 (lines 10 and 11), omit "eligible low-revenue corporation", substitute "eligible corporation". (8) Clause 16, page 17 (lines 15 to 22), omit subclause (3), substitute: (3) The rules may provide for the FTE number of an eligible volunteer to be nil for the whole of the payment period. (9) Clause 18, page 19 (lines 23 and 24), omit "eligible low-revenue corporation", substitute "eligible corporation". (10) Clause 40, page 39 (line 12), omit "10%", substitute "20%". (11) Clause 44, page 43 (line 7), omit "10%", substitute "20%". (12) Clause 71, page 66 (lines 26 to 30), omit paragraph (3)(e). (13) Clause 93, page 87 (line 5), omit "10%", substitute "20%". (14) Clause 93, page 87 (lines 8 to 12), omit the paragraph beginning "5% of collected charge revenue", substitute: 15% of collected charge revenue is available for making g — 2026-08-20, Senate: negative, ayes 10, noes 33
Plain-language summary
Written by a model from the explanatory memorandum; not the record, as at 2026-08-13.
The bill sets up a scheme to distribute money collected from digital platforms to news organisations that produce public interest journalism.
The Secretary of the relevant department would run the scheme, deciding who gets payments based on how many editorial workers a news corporation employs.
Payments would be made twice a year, starting in March and September, if enough funds are available.
- Creates the News Journalism Payment Scheme to distribute revenue from the News Bargaining Incentive.
- Requires news corporations to maintain their eligible editorial capacity or face recovery of excess funding.
- Establishes a compliance framework with civil penalties for false information or non-compliance.
- Allows the Secretary to give grants to ineligible organisations like the Australian Associated Press.
- Sets up internal merits review of key decisions, with further review possible by the Administrative Review Tribunal.
- Gives the Minister rule-making power for scheme details, subject to parliamentary disallowance.
Eligible news corporations, their editorial workers, small to medium publishers, regional and remote news outlets, and the Australian Associated Press.
Sources
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