Now lawFamily & Community Introduced in the House of Representatives, 01 Apr 2026

Author payments for library books now sit in one law

Australian writers, artists and publishers get paid when libraries hold their books. There is one payment plan for public libraries and one for school and uni libraries. This law puts both into one law, with a new committee to keep watch on them.

Official name: Public and Educational Lending Rights (Better Income for Authors) Bill 2026

Who it affects

• Australian authors, artists, editors and translators: They keep getting paid when libraries hold their books, including ebooks and audiobooks.
• Australian publishers, including people who publish their own books: They can claim too. Some charities that publish books can join under the rules.
• Public, school and uni libraries: Nothing changes for borrowers. Libraries get a seat on the new committee.
• People who claim money they should not get: The government can now take it back.

Library payment schemes since 1974

When a library lends a book for free, the author may sell fewer copies. Since 1974 Australia has paid authors and publishers for this. The plan is called the Public Lending Right, and it covers public libraries.

A second plan started in 2000 for school, technical college and uni libraries. It is called the Educational Lending Right. It ran only because the government said so. No law passed by Parliament backed it.

In 2023 the government's arts plan, called Revive, added ebooks and audiobooks to both plans.

This law puts both plans into one new law. A partner bill passed at the same time. It ends the old Public Lending Right Act 1985 and handles the change from old to new.

How much money is involved

In 2024 to 2025, nearly 17,500 people and businesses were paid. The total was more than $28.1 million.

About $14.8 million went to 7,044 writers and publishers under the public library plan. About $13.4 million went to 10,566 writers and publishers under the school and uni plan.

The scheme the minister makes

The law says the Arts Minister must write a set of detailed rules for the payments. It is called the Public and Educational Lending Rights Scheme. It sets the day-to-day rules.

It covers how to claim, who gets approved, how much is paid and for how long. Payment rates can change from year to year. They depend on how much money there is.

Parliament can see the rules and can vote to cancel them. The law itself says who can get paid, and when money can be taken back.

Who can be paid

An Australian creator is an Australian citizen or permanent resident who wrote all or part of a book. It also covers people who drew the pictures or translated it. It covers people who added a big share of the first content, such as an editor. A permanent resident is allowed to live here for good but is not a citizen.

An Australian publisher can be a company that publishes books in Australia. It can be a charity that publishes books for its cause, if it meets the rules. It can also be an author who publishes their own books.

A book includes an ebook and an audiobook. The minister can add or leave out other things in the rules.

Say you wrote a children's audiobook. It sits in your local library and in a school library. You could claim under both parts of the plan.

The new committee

The law sets up a new committee for the payments. It has seven part-time members.

The Arts Minister picks a Chair, some members for writers, one for publishers and one for libraries. Two public servants, people who work for the government, join them. One comes from the department that handles copyright, the rules on who owns creative work. One comes from the National Library of Australia.

Each member serves up to three years, and nine years at most in total. Members must say if they have money interests that clash with their role.

The committee gives advice to the minister and the head of the arts department. It suggests changes to the rules. It is expected to meet twice a year.

The day-to-day work of checking claims and paying people moves to the department. The old committee did more of this hands-on work.

Challenging a decision

You might not agree with a decision on your claim. Then you can ask the head of the department to look at it again. You must ask in writing within 28 days.

The department head has 90 days to decide. If there is no answer in that time, the first decision stands.

After that you can go to the Administrative Review Tribunal. It is a body that reviews government decisions, a bit like a court but less formal.

Getting money back

The government can take back payments in three cases. First, a court can order someone to pay back money after they are found guilty of giving false facts. Second, the department can get back money paid because of false or misleading facts. Third, it can get back money paid by mistake.

The right to a payment cannot be sold or handed to someone else. It cannot be taken if the person goes broke. If a writer dies, the money can go to the people who inherit from them.

Reports and smaller rules

Each year the head of the department must give Parliament a report on how the payments are going.

The minister can make extra rules on things like who counts as a publisher and what committee members are paid. Those rules cannot create crimes, set taxes or change the law itself.

Start date

This bill is now law. Tony Burke, the Arts Minister, brought it to the House of Representatives on 1 April 2026. That is the house of Parliament where the government is formed. The House passed it on 13 May 2026. The Senate, Parliament's second house, passed it on 14 May 2026.

The Governor-General, the King's representative, signed it into law on 20 May 2026. Its official number is Act No. 45 of 2026.

Most of the law starts on a date the government picks. If no date is picked, it starts 18 months after it was signed. That means by November 2027 at the latest. The government says the gap gives time to write the detailed rules. Then they can start on 1 July, in line with the payment year.

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

• Bill page on aph.gov.au
• Text of the bill
• Explanatory memorandum

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