Now lawBusiness & Trade Introduced in the House of Representatives, 25 Jun 2026

Minister can now add big events to brand rules

Australia protects the names and logos of big sporting events from people cashing in without permission. This law lets the minister add future events by writing rules. Parliament no longer has to pass a new law each time.

Official name: Major Sporting Events (Indicia and Images) Protection Amendment Bill 2026

Who it affects

• People who run big international sporting events: Their event names and logos can be protected sooner, even when hosting is decided at short notice.
• Businesses and advertisers: They will need to watch for events added by rules. They must not use protected names and pictures without permission while protection lasts.
• The Minister for Sport: Gets the power to add events, say who controls the rights and set how long protection lasts.
• Parliament: It no longer passes a law for each event. It can still cancel the rules.

New events needed new laws

The Major Sporting Events (Indicia and Images) Protection Act 2014 protects the business rights of big sporting events held in Australia. Indicia means the words, names and symbols linked to an event.

The law stops people using these, and pictures of the event, for business without permission. This lasts for a set time.

Until now, each event had to be listed in a part at the back of the law. Adding a new event meant Parliament had to pass a new law.

The government says that is too slow. Protection works best when it starts at least 12 months before an event. That gives the event's owners and the agencies that make people follow the rules time to tell people about them and act on them.

It gives an example. The AFC Women's Asian Cup 2026 is a football contest run by the Asian Football Confederation. Hosting details were not settled until late 2024. The contest began in March 2026. So there was not enough time to pass a law early enough.

Events added by rules

The law lets the minister write rules that name an event as a big sporting event. These are detailed rules the government writes without a new vote.

Before naming an event, the minister must be sure of two things. The event must matter around the world, or be linked to a world sporting movement. Naming it must also fit the goals of the law.

Those goals are to back Australia's place in big world sporting movements. They are also to help Australian governments and bodies keep their promises to the world groups that run these events.

For each event, the rules must say which group can give permission to use the protected names and pictures. They must say which bodies count as event bodies, meaning the groups that run or own the event. They must list which names and symbols are protected, and how long protection lasts.

The protection time cannot be longer than the minister fairly thinks is needed, given the law's goals.

Say a world championship is given to an Australian city at short notice. The minister could make a rule protecting its name and logo straight away. Under the old system, Parliament would have needed to pass a new law first.

Old event lists removed

The law takes out the two lists of events at the back of the old law. They were called Schedules 1 and 2.

Many other parts of the law pointed to those lists. The new law updates them to point to the rules. For example, some parts that mention state or territory matters now follow whatever the rules say for each event.

At first, protected names and pictures link to every event body for that event. The rules can say they do not, for some names, pictures or cases.

Limits on the minister

A group of senators checks bills for problems. It is called the Scrutiny of Bills Committee. It asked why events should be added by rules. In reply, the government added more detail to its notes on the bill.

The government says the change does not alter what kinds of events can be protected. It does not change how much protection they get. It says event details are facts that change often, so rules suit them.

Either house of Parliament can vote to cancel the rules.

Start date

The government brought the bill into the House of Representatives on 25 June 2026. That is the lower house of Parliament, where the government sits. The House passed it on 1 July 2026. The Senate, Parliament's second house, passed it on 14 September 2026.

The Governor-General, who stands in for the King, signed it into law on 18 September 2026. It became Act No. 89 of 2026. It started the next day.

How they voted

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

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

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