Public and Educational Lending Rights (Better Income for Authors) Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions Bill 2026; Third Reading

Summary

This legislation updates Australian copyright laws to improve how authors are paid when their books are borrowed from public libraries and educational institutions. The changes adjust the Public Lending Right and Educational Lending Right schemes — systems that give authors royalties each time their work is borrowed — to ensure payments better reflect how often books are actually used and to make the payment process work more smoothly with modern library systems. Authors will see more accurate and potentially higher payments for library lending, while libraries and schools will need to adapt their reporting systems to track borrowing data in new ways.

What happens at this stage

The final vote in this chamber on the bill as a whole, after all amendments have been considered. If it passes, the bill moves to the other chamber to go through the same process. If both chambers have already agreed to identical text, the bill proceeds directly to Royal Assent.

Next: The other chamber, which runs the same process from First Reading, or Royal Assent if both chambers have already agreed