Now lawTech & Online Introduced in the House of Representatives, 13 Aug 2026

Newsrooms now share tech money by journalist numbers

This law sets up a new payment plan for news. Big social media and search companies may pay a new news charge. If they do, the money is shared among Australian newsrooms by how many journalists they have. Regional, small and community outlets get extra.

Official name: News Journalism Payments Bill 2026

Who it affects

• Listed news outlets: They can apply twice a year for a share of the money, based on their journalist numbers.
• Journalists, photographers, video makers and news editors: The money is worked out by counting their jobs, including some freelancers, who are paid per job and not on staff.
• Very small publishers and news start-ups: They can apply for grants from a separate pot.
• Australian Associated Press: It gets its own grant to support its newswire service.
• Big social media and search companies: Any charge they pay under the partner laws flows to newsrooms through this plan.

Meta ended $70 million deals

In 2021 Australia brought in the News Media Bargaining Code. It is a law that pushes big tech companies to bargain with news outlets. It aimed to even up the power between big tech platforms and news outlets. It followed a 2019 report by the competition and consumer watchdog.

The code had a gap. Platforms could avoid it by removing news. The Parliamentary Library works for all MPs and takes no side. It says Meta, which owns Facebook, chose not to renew its deals with Australian news outlets. Those deals were thought to be worth about $70 million a year.

On 12 December 2024 the government announced a new plan to push platforms into deals. Large social media and search companies must pay a charge. They can cut it, or wipe it out, by doing deals with Australian news outlets.

Five bills set up the plan. Two create the charge. This one, the News Journalism Payments Bill, decides what happens to any money the charge raises.

The government says news that serves the public costs a lot to make. It says the money that used to pay for it is shrinking.

Who can get paid

Only some companies can apply for a payment. They must be listed with the media and phone watchdog under the 2021 code.

To be listed, a news business must mainly make news, for a mainly Australian audience. It must have professional standards. Its editors must be free to make their own choices. The company must also earn more than $150,000 a year.

A news company can count staff hired by a linked company in its group. Many media groups hire journalists through one company and run the news site through another. The law also works for Australia's outside territories, like Norfolk Island.

Counting journalists

Payments are based on how many full-time journalists a newsroom has.

A worker counts if more than half their job is finding, checking, reporting or editing core news. Core news helps Australians take part in public debate and make choices as voters. It also covers local, regional or national events that matter.

The law gives examples of who counts. These are journalists, news photographers, video makers, data journalists, and news editors or producers.

Some workers do not count. These are people who mainly read the news on air, host shows, commentate sport, act, design or give opinions. What matters is what the person really does, whatever their job title.

A full-time worker is counted as 35 paid hours a week. Someone on 20 hours a week counts as 0.571 of a worker. A worker must do at least 0.2 of a full week to count.

Freelancers can count too. The Minister makes rules on how. Very small outlets earn under $300,000 a year. They can count volunteers who become paid staff within three months. They can also count the news part of a job, for staff who mostly do other things.

Extra for small outlets

Some journalists count for more. If no other rule is made, each one counts as 1.2 of a worker. That is a 20 per cent boost.

This applies to newsrooms in companies that earn under $50 million a year. It applies to journalists in regional and remote areas.

Once the Minister makes a rule, it can also apply to outlets that serve diverse communities. These include migrant communities and First Nations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) communities. They also include gay, lesbian, bisexual, trans, intersex and queer communities, and people with disability.

The boost only applies once. A regional journalist at a small company still counts as 1.2.

How to apply

There are two payment periods a year. Each one is six months long. The government expects them to start each March and September.

Unless the Minister sets other dates, outlets apply in a set window. It opens four months before a period starts. It closes 42 days before it starts.

An outlet states its journalist numbers and makes a claim. The head of the Communications Department checks it. The head can approve it, approve a smaller claim or say no.

The head can say no to an outlet that fails a risk test. That means there is a big risk the money would be misused or the rules broken. The head is not allowed to look at what kind of news the outlet publishes. The government says this keeps newsrooms free to make their own choices.

Splitting the money

Each year the Treasurer, the minister in charge of the economy, works out how much the charge raised. First, 10 per cent is set aside for grants. Next, any money still owed to outlets from past mistakes is paid. Then some money is kept back for future fixes. That is 5 per cent, unless the Minister picks a different figure.

What is left goes to outlets. If it is at least $2 million, there are two payment periods. If it is between $1 million and $2 million, there is one. Under $1 million, there are none that year, and the money rolls over.

To work out each outlet's share, take its journalist count. Multiply it by the money for the period. Then divide by the total journalist count of all approved outlets.

The government gives an example. Say an outlet has 17.5 full-time journalists. All approved outlets together have 2,147. If $100 million is being shared, that outlet gets $815,091.

Keeping journalists on

An outlet that takes money must keep its journalist numbers at the level it was paid for. It must do this for the whole six months.

If numbers drop, the outlet may have to pay some money back. Say a country paper is paid for 10 journalists. Then it lets two go without good reason. It could owe part of its payment to the federal government.

An outlet can ask to be let off if the drop was out of its control. It can also ask if a parent company or a takeover changed things. Money owed is a debt to the federal government. The department head can take it out of future payments.

Reports, records and fines

Outlets must tell the department head when key things change. Examples are being taken off the list, or having fewer journalists. They must report near the end of each period and keep records.

Some acts can bring a fine of up to 60 penalty units. These are failing to do those things, or giving false or misleading facts. A penalty unit is a set dollar amount used to work out fines. For a company, the fine can be five times bigger. A court sets this fine. It does not give anyone a criminal record.

The department head can demand facts and papers. The head can also give on-the-spot fines. The head can accept written promises to fix a problem. A court can make an outlet keep those promises.

Reviews and openness

An outlet unhappy with a key decision can ask a senior officer in the department to look at it again. Some decisions can then go to the Administrative Review Tribunal. That is an independent body that rechecks government decisions.

Within a month after each period, the department must publish who was paid and how much. It must say which extra weights applied.

The department head must give Parliament a yearly report. There must be a public review of the whole plan after the third period with payments.

Grants for small publishers

The 10 per cent set aside pays for grants. The Communications Minister said half of this goes to a grants program for very small publishers and start-ups. That is 5 per cent of all money raised. These outlets are too small to be listed under the code. The Minister said these grants focus on 'news deserts'. Those are places with little local news.

The other 5 per cent goes to Australian Associated Press. The Minister said its newswire sends stories to more than 400 Australian publishers. Over 300 of them are in regional areas.

Every grant comes with a written deal. If the deal is broken, money may have to be paid back.

Start date

Communications Minister Anika Wells brought in the bill on 13 August 2026. The House of Representatives, where the government is formed, passed it on 19 August 2026. The Senate, Parliament's second house, passed it on 20 August 2026.

The Parliamentary Library said the Prime Minister made a deal to pass the bills quickly. It was with Angus Taylor, leader of the main group not in government.

The Governor-General, the King's representative, signed it into law on 26 August 2026. Its official number is Act No. 75 of 2026.

It starts once it is signed and the law that creates the charge has started. Unless the Minister sets another date, the first payment period starts on a set 1 September. That is the first 1 September after the first 1 March after the law starts.

How they voted

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

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

Open the full interactive page