In with the New

We have a new communications minister – or more accurately, we have a sports minister who will take on communications as well, whilst former minister Michelle Rowland moves onward and upwards to become the new Attorney General.

Anika Wells is the new minister – and we look forward to seeing how fast she deals with the many pieces of unfinished business in the portfolio.

The one piece of leftover business that CMT is particularly curious about is the fate of the News Bargaining Incentive scheme which builds on the News Media Bargaining Code introduced in 2023 to give digital platforms an incentive to enter commercial deals with news media organisations. The NMBC has foundered in the wake of Meta’s decision not to renew the deals it had made with Australian media companies because, it said, its users weren’t coming to Facebook for news.

And whilst Google is continuing to sign new deals, they are smaller and shorter. The NMBC, which delivered an estimated $200m a year into news media for three years, seems to be sputtering to an ignominious end – unless the government can find a way, beyond designating the platforms, to pay for the journalism that appears on their sites.

The proposed incentives scheme uses a charge and offset mechanism under which large digital platforms which don’t do deals with news media companies will pay a non-refundable levy. But if they do enter commercial arrangements with news media companies, the platforms can fully offset their liability. The government measure is not designed to raise revenue, but to encourage digital platforms to enter commercial deals with news media and support public interest journalism.

But this scheme, much like its parent, the NMBC, has stagnated. It’s embroiled in the Trump administration’s ‘liberation day’ tariff arguments, with the US President insisting that there’ll be penalties for countries which try to penalise American tech giants – like Meta – with taxes and regulations. It’s a sticky problem. Over to you Minister Wells. 

Also on the minister’s to-do list is a statutory review of the Online Safety Act, which was delivered to Minister Wells’ predecessor back in October of last year. The Act came into effect in 2022 and regulates some online harms, including online bullying and abuse, non-consensual sharing of intimate images, and illegal and restricted content.

The Albanese government indicated in late 2024 that it would accept one of the key recommendations issuing from the review, namely, to impose a statutory duty of care on digital platforms. This would play an important role in moving Australia’s online regulation towards a genuine focus on platform systems, and was a strong focus of our own submission to the review.

But the government has yet to respond to the rest of the 67 recommendations despite tabling the report in parliament in February. Other key recommendations include increased penalties, the implementation of an ombuds scheme, and restructuring the regulator as a genuine commission. Again, over to you Minister Wells.

References:

Ministers for the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development, Communications, Sport and the Arts (2025, February 4). Report of the Online Safety Act Review released. https://minister.infrastructure.gov.au/rowland/media-release/report-online-safety-act-review-released 

Mizen, R. (2025, February 23). New Trump tariff threat to Australia over ‘plundering’ of tech giants. Australian Financial Review. https://www.afr.com/politics/federal/new-trump-tariff-threat-to-australia-over-plundering-of-tech-giants-20250223-p5lef7

Roberts, G., and Doran, M. (2024, March 1). Meta won't renew commercial deals with Australian news media. ABC News. https://www.abc.net.au/news/2024-03-01/meta-won-t-renew-deal-with-australian-news-media/103533874

The Treasury (2024). News Bargaining Incentive Fact Sheet. https://ministers.treasury.gov.au/sites/ministers.treasury.gov.au/files/2024-12/news-bargaining-incentive-fact-sheet.docx