News Media Bargaining (Administration) Bill 2026

Summary

This legislation sets up the administrative framework for how news media companies and digital platforms negotiate payments for news content, building on the News Media Bargaining Code. It establishes the processes, timelines, and rules that govern these negotiations between publishers and tech companies like Google and Facebook, ensuring both sides follow consistent procedures when they sit down to work out payment deals. The change matters because without clear administrative guidelines, these negotiations could become chaotic or one-sided — the framework helps protect Australian news outlets' ability to get fairly compensated for their journalism while giving platforms certainty about how the process works.

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