Sam Lim (Tangney, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to make my contribution to the Public and Educational Lending Rights (Better Income for Authors) Bill 2026. The library is a home for many—for students studying after school; for babies and young children learning their first nursery rhymes; for members of the community accessing public information; for migrants like me who learn English from a free library community program. And, of course, the library is for everyone, anyone, in search of a book, whether that is a physical copy or digital copies, like ebooks and audiobooks. In Tangney, that could mean the public library at Riverton, Willetton, Bull Creek, Booragoon, Canning Bridge, Melville or Willagee or at any one of the more than 50 schools in my community. More than 50 years ago, public lending were established. Introduced by the Whitlam government in 1974, these rights ensure more money makes it way into the pockets of Australian authors, publishers and illustrators. What it means is that Australian book publishers, authors, illustrators, editors, translators and compilers are compensated for the loss of income when their work is used multiple times in Australia's public and educational learning libraries. Authors, publishers and illustrators want as many Australians as possible to read and connect with their work, and libraries help make that possible. This compensation is important so that we can support Australian culture, foster our Australian writers and support more homegrown storytellers so that they can continue to tell important stories to our community.

The Public and Educational Lending Rights (Better Income for Authors) Bill 2026 consolidates the public and educational lending rights scheme into a single legislative framework. In 2024-25, more than 17,000 payments totalling to $28.16 million were made to authors. This includes public lending rights payments of more than $14.7 million to 7,044 individual eligible Australian creators and publishers, as well as more than $13.3 million to 10,566 individual eligible Australian creators and publishers in educational lending rights payments.

I would like to speak about some of the authors in Tangney whose works were available at my community local libraries to show why this bill is so important. I met Cristy Burns a couple of years ago when I was out doorknocking. Cristy is so energetic and full of passion. She told me that reading is the doorway to information, creativity, passion and thinking in new ways. I could not agree more.

Cristy's books focus on science. She has written non-fiction books on Australian scientists and children's stories. Cristy also told me about how she integrates science into her books, trying to show that book kids can be science kids, and that science kids can be book kids as well. Writing a book, she told me, is not unlike the scientific process of innovating and experimenting again. In literature and in science, we have an opportunity to explore, discover and make a better tomorrow. I admire how she connects both science and literature and makes it fun for her young audiences.

Another Tangney author whose books are at my local library is Shirley Marr. Shirley is a first-generation Chinese Australian and a child of migrants. Her experiences inform her writing. Her novel, A Glasshouse of Stars, won the Children's Book Council of Australia—CBCA—book of the year for younger readers in 2022 and the WA premier's book award for writing for children in 2021. I think this book will touch many people who have or who can imagine what it is like to migrate to a new land and feel nervous, scared and embarrassed by not knowing the language or how to make new friends.

This is another point: it is important to share stories like Cristy's and Shirley's—and share them widely—in our community. It is important that we support our homegrown authors so that we can have a diversity of stories to move and inspire. Both Cristy and Shirley have spoken to me about the importance of representation so that people, especially our next generation, feel like they belong and can identify with the struggles, opportunities and achievements that diverse characters experience. I think this is an important point to consider as we debate this bill. We want our future generation to see themselves in the stories they read, and this bill supports authors, illustrators and publishers who help do this.

Finally, I would like to speak briefly about Cyrus Roussilhes. You can also find his writing at a Tangney public library. Cyrus's garden in Parkwood is packed with plants. He is a collector of rare and unusual fruit trees. He has shared some of his knowledge about plants in the books he has written, including 3 Easy Fixes to Grow Better in Perth: Shade, Soil & Nature's Principles. His experiences, can-do spirit and approach to gardening are valuable to share with the local community.

This bill formally establishes the educational lending right in legislation alongside the public lending right, as a single legislative framework—at present, there is no legislative basis for the Educational Lending Right Scheme. It also adopts many key definitions and eligibility criteria from the existing legislative framework, with some modifications or updates. This includes ebooks and audiobooks, which is very important given how many people access literature through ebooks and audiobooks.

The bill also modernises governance arrangements. A new public and educational lending rights committee will be established, with more modern appointment processes and disclosure requirements. The bill also clarifies the committee's role, including to include an advisory function.

Our government is serious about supporting Australian literature. In 2023, in line with a commitment under the national cultural policy, Revive, the Albanese Labor government also expanded the scheme to include ebooks and audiobooks, reflecting the changing ways Australians engage with literature. Last year we established Writing Australia within Creative Australia to become a hub for the sector to build expertise and partnerships and to support writers and publishers. Writing Australia supports the sector to grow both local and international audiences for Australian books. I want to add that both Cristy and Shirley have been recent recipients of Creative Australia grants, which makes me very proud. Supporting our literary sector helps ensure that Australian storytellers can continue to share their diverse voices and experiences and ensures that more Australian stories can continue to be told. I'm pleased to support this bill.

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