Technology giants including Google, Meta and TikTok are facing higher tax bills in Australia unless they reach commercial deals with local news publishers, after the federal government unveiled revised legislation that toughens the terms of its proposed News Bargaining Incentive.
The updated framework, revealed on Monday, increases the maximum levy tech companies will pay on their Australian digital advertising revenues from 2.25 per cent to 2.5 per cent if they fail to negotiate content agreements with media organisations. The changes also raise the minimum number of deals companies must strike to fully discharge their liability — from four publishers to at least six.
How the News Bargaining Incentive Works
Under the scheme, tech platforms with domestic revenues of $250 million or more will be subject to the levy, which is calculated solely on digital advertising income attributable to the Australian market. Companies that negotiate qualifying agreements with news publishers can offset their liability and reduce what they owe to the government.
The incentive structure is designed to encourage platforms to engage broadly with the media sector rather than focusing deals on only the largest organisations. Approved agreements struck with large media companies allow platforms to offset 150 per cent of their liabilities, while deals with smaller news organisations attract a more generous 200 per cent offset — an increase from the 170 per cent offset that had been proposed in an earlier draft.
Any funds raised through the levy will be redistributed to the broader media sector, rather than flowing into general government revenue.
What Changed After Consultation
The revised draft follows a consultation period during which both technology companies and media organisations were invited to provide feedback. The government has adjusted the terms in ways that broadly favour news publishers, lifting the levy ceiling, raising the minimum deal threshold, and improving offset rates for smaller publishers.
One notable change involves the scrapping of a professional networking platform carve-out that would have excluded LinkedIn from the scheme's reach. Under the updated proposal, LinkedIn will now be captured by the legislation alongside other major platforms.
The earlier draft, released in April, drew sharp criticism from technology companies, who described the measure as "a government-mandated transfer of wealth from one industry to another." The Criticism of Google and other major platforms over their relationships with the news industry has been a long-running debate in Australia and internationally, with publishers arguing that platforms profit substantially from news content without providing adequate financial compensation.
Government Defends the Changes
Assistant Treasurer Daniel Mulino defended the revised framework, saying the government had engaged in good faith with both platforms and media companies throughout the consultation process.
"Australian journalism is important to a well-functioning democracy and we want it to be sustainable now and into the future," Mulino said.
"We want digital platforms to do deals with a diverse range of media organisations," he added, signalling that breadth of engagement — not just headline agreements with major mastheads — is a central objective of the policy.
What Happens Next
The Labor government intends to introduce the revised legislation when parliament returns for its Spring sitting period. If passed, the laws would represent one of the most significant interventions into the relationship between technology platforms and the news industry in Australia's history.
The scheme builds on earlier attempts to force platforms to contribute to the sustainability of Australian journalism, reflecting ongoing concern within government that the collapse of traditional advertising revenue has severely weakened the country's media landscape.
Tech companies will face a clear commercial calculation: negotiate deals with a sufficiently broad range of publishers — including smaller regional and community outlets — or face a levy on their Australian digital advertising revenues at the maximum 2.5 per cent rate. The government's move to increase both the levy ceiling and the number of required deals suggests it is intent on ensuring the incentive functions as a genuine bargaining mechanism rather than a symbolic gesture.
With the legislation set to be introduced in the coming months, technology companies and media organisations alike will be watching closely to see whether the revised framework triggers a new wave of commercial negotiations — or a fresh round of legal and political challenges from the platforms.
