Government to implement all recommendations of News Media Bargaining Code review

Joint Media Release from the Hon Michelle Rowland MP, Minister for Communications and The Hon Stephen Jones MP, Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services

MEDIA RELEASE | 18 December 2023

The Government will implement all recommendations of Treasury’s review of the News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code (the Code).

The review concluded that the Code had been a success in its first year, with over 30 commercial agreements inked between digital platforms Google and Meta, and a cross-section of news businesses. The review found that the agreements that were highly unlikely to have been made without the Code.

The Code is intended to help support the sustainability of the Australian news media sector by addressing bargaining power imbalances between digital platforms and Australian news businesses. Commercial agreements that contribute to this objective are relevant under the Code’s designation provisions.

Treasury made five recommendations to improve the Code’s operation.

In response to the report, the Government will introduce legislative amendments to facilitate the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) preparing periodic reports on the digital platforms that should be covered by the Code.

The ACCC will have compulsory information-gathering powers to assist it to prepare these reports, and to allow scrutiny of commercial deals between the digital platforms and Australian news businesses to effectively evaluate their contribution, and the outcomes resulting from the Code.

The Government will also commission a further review of the Code after four years of its operation in early 2025.

Many commercial agreements between Australian news businesses and digital platforms will expire over the next year. The Government expects that digital platforms with significant bargaining power will negotiate in good faith towards the renewal of existing agreements, and potentially new agreements, with Australian news businesses.

The full Government response, including the recommendations, will be available on Treasury’s website at 8.30am Monday 18 December 2023.