The News Bargaining Incentive reached the Australian House of Representatives after the Australian Associated Press (AAP), a member of the News Media Coalition, successfully argued that Primary Source Journalism is vital to the information ecosystem. AAP Chief Executive Emma Cowdroy welcomed a guaranteed five per cent share of any money the scheme raises.
The Australian Government introduced two bills in the House of Representatives on Thursday 13 August 2026: the News Bargaining Incentive Bill and the News Journalism Payments Bill. Together they set out how large digital platforms will be expected to pay for the Australian news they carry.
The Government’s media release says the bills “address a limitation in the long-standing News Media Bargaining Code” that has allowed digital platforms “to avoid paying for news content by removing news from their service”. Facebook removed news for Australian users for about a week in February 2021, while the code was before Parliament, restoring it after the Government agreed amendments.
Australian Associated Press, a member of the News Media Coalition, is guaranteed five per cent of any money the scheme raises. The Government said the allocation reflects the benefit a wholesale newswire brings to the industry as a whole, and to regional publishers in particular.
AAP Chief Executive Emma Cowdroy, drawing on the News Media Coalition’s campaign messaging on Primary Source Journalism, said: “AAP is the nation’s wholesale news provider, supplying hundreds of outlets with factual and objective reporting. Our primary source journalism also surfaces across digital platforms, often without payment.”
She said the funds recognised the organisation’s “important role in Australia’s media ecosystem”, and added: “This measure acknowledges that the secondary use of AAP’s content by digital platforms should be compensated.”
The Incentive applies to platforms operating significant social media or search services with more than A$250 million in Australian digital advertising revenue. Reporting has identified Google, Meta and TikTok as the platforms most likely to be captured. Each faces a choice: strike commercial agreements with eligible Australian news publishers, or pay a charge set at 2.5 per cent of Australian digital advertising revenue. Agreements generate offsets that reduce the charge and can remove it entirely.
To obtain the offset, a platform needs qualifying agreements with at least eight news organisations. No single publisher may account for more than 25 per cent of a platform’s total offset.
Money that is not offset is collected by the Government and returned to the sector through a new News Journalism Payment Scheme. Payments are calculated primarily on the number of journalists an organisation employs, freelancers included, under a broad definition that covers photojournalists, videographers, data and visual journalists, and the editors and producers involved in producing core news content. A 20 per cent loading applies to journalists in regional and remote areas, at small and medium organisations, and at outlets serving diverse communities. Recipients must maintain those journalists over the payment period. A further five per cent of any money raised funds grants for small publishers and start-ups. The formula measures newsroom capacity rather than audience reach or traffic.
Introducing the legislation, Communications Minister Anika Wells said journalism mattered to democracy. “Quality journalism does not happen on its own. It is reliant on skilled journalists, strong newsrooms, and sustainable news organisations,” she said. Australia, she added, “needs more journalists, not fewer, because journalists are the lifeblood of Australian news”.
Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino said the measure “ensures large digital platforms cannot avoid making a fair contribution to the news content from which they derive value”.
The bills now face debate and scrutiny in the House of Representatives before moving to the Senate. They must pass both houses in identical form before receiving assent from the Governor-General. The Government expects passage within the current parliamentary period.
