Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee, , 3:33:58 to 3:42:04
Officials outline how the news bargaining incentive supports small publishers and start-ups, including the broadening definition of journalism in the legislation.
Topics: Grants administration, Law reform
Speakers: Mr Sam Grunhard, Senator Varun Ghosh, Unknown Speaker
Thank you very much. I'd like to ask some questions about news media and journalism, please, and the news bargaining incentive. In relation to the news journalism payment scheme, are you able to outline the support that it provides to smaller publishers and start-ups?
Certainly, Senator, thank you. So yes, the now that legislation has passed Parliament, we can be very definitive about this. So yes, the scheme that's established under the legislation will distribute 90% of the available payments that will come into the payment scheme according to a formula that's set out in the legislation. But 5% will be set aside for the Australian set aside for the Australian Associated Press and a further 5% for news businesses that are otherwise ineligible. That will often be small publishers, ones that are not yet registered or don't yet have sufficient size to be eligible under the statutory payment scheme. So the scheme makes sure that while there'll be a wide distribution of payments under that 90% amount of funding in the formula-driven payment scheme, there is also a 5% set aside for other news publishers. As well as those working in regional and remote areas and those serving diverse communities. So there'll be separate uplift within the formula-based scheme for those particular kinds of news publishers and their journalists.
So that final category comes out of the 90%, 5% to AAP and then 5% to smaller publishers and stuff. Australia's traditionally been a pretty tricky environment for smaller publishers and start-ups to consistently operate. What are the considerations that informed the 5% number and then perhaps how are you going to measure its efficacy in terms of the ecosystem?
So the Senator, as we go to establish the details of the payment scheme and the grant schemes that will roll out here, we'll of course build in measurement into the funding agreements and the grant agreements that will be distributing. I think one of the key points is that under the statutory payment scheme, there will be an obligation, a statutory obligation for corporations that receive payments under the scheme to retain the employed journalist in respect of who they're receiving those payments. And we'll will of course be required to check that to make sure that they're acquitting their funding according to the terms of the legislation. So I think one of the most important outcomes of this scheme will be to ensure the retention of journalists who are employed with the funding under the scheme and reporting back to government to ensure that that retention is actually occurring.
Does that extend to a consideration of, let's say, in the in the small publishers or start-ups area? Retention of journalists, but also survival of the institutions, firms and entities in that space?
Senator, so certainly that we know from some of the previous programmes we've run that these grants have been absolutely essential to support some of those small publishers. We hear, for example, from firms uh sorry, from organisations like country press, uh how essential the pre-existing grant rounds like the journalism assistance fund that rolled out uh previously have been to support some of those small start-ups and small regional newspapers that otherwise simply just don't have enough diverse income sources outside of government support. Um so yes, we do we do hear regularly that there are uh papers that simply would not continue to exist if it weren't for that assistance that's been provided. The statutory scheme that's been established here will take now take on the function that has been previously performed effectively by those grant programs. I would also say that we are rolling out the news innovation fund as we speak, uh that those uh applications have been assessed for that that program, which is designed particularly to support transformation and innovation for some of those publishers to bring themselves into a more competitive state in the digital age, um, and those grounds will be awarded shortly. So there is further support coming, even in advance of the statutory scheme, which payments for which will commence next year.
One of the streams you referred to then was um those smaller publishers who struggle to generate sufficient revenue on their own and thus survive, at least in part due to due to support. In the start-up space, is are there examples or is there a separate category that you identify where uh government support has in effect allowed a start-up in the journalism or news media space to grow and thrive to a point where it needs less support or no government support?
Uh Senator, uh I'm sure there probably are examples. I don't have them to hand, uh, but we do we do hear feedback from the sector of how important these grants have been and how important we heard very clearly from the sector that the news bargaining incentive legislation was going to be essential to their survival and their ability to adapt in what are clearly really very challenging times for public interest journalism.
Challenging but also quite innovative, I think, and that sort of dovetails into the next question. Which relates to the definition of journalism under the news bargaining incentive and the broadening of that definition? Are you able to outline I guess the new aspects of that definition for us and then also what you see the importance of that broadening definition is to the objectives of the incentive?
Senator, I I know this matter was to uh was discussed on the floor of parliament as the bill was going through. Um in the end, of course, um that broadened uh definition will allow the scheme to support uh a broader range of organizations and journalists. Um we will in addition to what's in the legislation itself, we will have to develop a series of uh rules and regulations that will sit under the legislation over the next few months. We've commenced work on that. Uh we will be consulting with the sector on those rules to make absolutely sure we've got them right. Um we'll seek their views to uh inform the best possible outcome to uh make sure we're supporting the sector in the future,
What are the supports, and and this goes back to one of part of your answer in the to the first question? What are the supports for um smaller communities, businesses and underrepresented communities via the news bargaining incentive?
So, Senator, I think. The key measure is that um additional weighting I mentioned earlier. So there's a specific uplift waiting defined in the legislation as it passed through Parliament that will mean that eligible editor or workers in small to medium corporations, but also those in regional remote areas and those those that are dedicated to supporting diverse communities will receive an uplift of an additional weighting through the distribution mechanism. So they'll receive a disproportionate amount of the funding as compared to the larger corporations that aren't necessarily serving those diverse communities or those regional and remote communities.