Jo Briskey (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

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Every page of writing is a result of a thousand tiny decisions and desperate acts of will.

This is an except from Australian literary icon and local Maribyrnong resident Helen Gardner, one of Australia's greatest living writers. In her True Stories: Selected Non-Fiction, she wrote this about the craft of writing.

A thousand tiny decisions and desperate acts of will are what it takes to put words on a page. That is the invisible labour behind every book on every shelf in every library in this country. It is exactly this kind of labour that this bill is seeking to recognise and reward. Before I get into the details, let me ask you something. Think about the last book you really loved. Maybe it was something you stayed up late finishing. Maybe it was a picture book that you've read to your kids so many times that you can recite it from memory. Maybe it's an audiobook that kept you company on a long-haul flight. Whatever it was, someone wrote it. In many cases, they were an Australian author: someone who sat at a kitchen table after the kids were in bed, squeezed an hour in before work, or spent months—sometimes years—making those thousand tiny decisions until the words were exactly right.

Here's the thing that was arguably unfair. Every time that book was borrowed from a public library, the author got nothing. Zero. The library bought one copy, maybe two, and then it went out the door hundreds of times, and the person who wrote it never saw a cent from all of those borrowings. That changed in 1974, when the Whitlam Labor government established the public lending right. The idea was beautifully simple. If your book is being borrowed from libraries across this country, you should be compensated for it. It was a straightforward act of fairness to Australian creators, and it's one of the things Labor has always sought to get right when it comes to supporting Australian culture. More than 50 years on, the Albanese Labor government is proud to carry that legacy forward—and today, with these bills, it is doing so in a way that is more modern and more comprehensive than ever before.

The public lending right has quietly done extraordinary work for Australian literature since its inception. In 2024-25 alone, more than 17,000 payments totalling over $28 million were made to Australian creators and publishers. These are payments to more than 17,000 individuals, authors in suburban Melbourne and regional communities, illustrators in our cities and editors and translators whose skilled contributions make Australian publishing possible. The scheme distributes payments across two streams: the public lending right, which in 2024-25 delivered just under $15 million to over 7,000 individual creators and publishers for books held in public lending libraries; and the educational lending right, which provided just over $13 million to over 10,500 recipients for books in educational libraries. Together, these programs form the financial backbone that helps Australian literary culture survive and flourish.

But, if we're being honest, for all its achievements this scheme has grown over the decades in amendments layered upon amendments—administrative arrangements delegated by practice rather than formalised in law. The educational lending right, introduced in 2000, has never had a proper legislative basis of its own. It has operated effectively on goodwill and administrative convention. That is not good enough for a program that delivers tens of millions of dollars annually to Australian creators. They deserve security, not the fragility of convention. These bills seek to provide that security.

The bills before us today consolidate both schemes into a single modern legislative framework. For the first time, the educational lending right will have a formal statutory basis—a foundation in law that gives creators, publishers and administrators the certainty and stability they need. The bills modernise governance arrangements, establishing a new public and educational lending rights committee with contemporary appointment processes and appropriate disclosure requirements. They transfer decision-making and operational oversight for certain processes from the committee to the secretary, in line with how these functions have been carried out in practice for many years but now formalised properly in legislation. They also clarify that the committee has an advisory function on matters relating to the operation of the act, bringing transparency and accountability to the scheme's administration.

The Public and Educational Lending Rights (Better Income for Authors) Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions Bill 2026 ensures seamless continuity between existing and new arrangements. Creators and publishers currently receiving payments will not face any disruption. The transition will be smooth, clear and fair. These are important technical improvements, but the most significant reform contained in this legislation is the formal extension of the scheme to cover ebooks and audiobooks.

Australians have changed the way they read. You just have to walk onto any train or aeroplane today and you'll see people with their earphones in, oftentimes listening to an audiobook. You'll see people scrolling through their ereaders and you'll see families borrowing digital picture books for their children from the local library app without ever setting foot in a physical library. This should not be seen as a threat to Australian literature because it is an opportunity, and so many Australian creators know this. They know this shift to online reading means more Australians are engaging with more books than ever before. It means our libraries are reaching people in new ways in regional areas and outer suburbs, where a physical library may be an hour's drive away.

Until recently, when an Australian borrowed a digital book from a public library the author received nothing. The scheme that was designed to compensate creators for library borrowings simply did not cover the formats in which millions of Australians are now reading. In 2023 the Albanese Labor government took the first step to address this, expanding eligibility to ebooks and audiobooks through a modification instrument under Revive, our National Cultural Policy. These bills now cement that expansion firmly in legislation, ensuring it can't be unwound by a future government without an act of parliament. It is a lasting commitment to the new way Australians consume Aussie literature.

For Australian authors, this is a game changer. A novelist whose work is available as an ebook and as an audiobook, as well as in print, will now be compensated for library borrowings across all formats. That is a much fairer system, and we must also remember that this is a profession where median earnings remain stubbornly low. Every additional revenue stream is important.

I want to step back from the specifics of this bill for a moment and place it in its broader context, because legislation doesn't stand alone. It is part of a sustained, considered Labor commitment to supporting Australian creative workers and Australian storytelling. Our revived national cultural policy was the first national cultural policy in a decade. It recognised, with ambition, that Australian culture is worth investing in. It is how we understand ourselves, how we pass our values and our histories to the next generation and how we make sense of who we are as a nation.

At the heart of Revive is a commitment to the people who make culture—the writers, the illustrators, the musicians, the performers—people who work without income certainty and without the safety nets that workers in other industries take for granted. Revive committed to modernising lending rights, and this bill delivers on that commitment. It sits alongside our investment in Writing Australia, established within Creative Australia to become a genuine hub for the sector. It seeks to build expertise, foster partnerships, grow the industry and support writers and publishers to do what they do best.

If we do not support Australian writers, we will not have Australian stories—it's that simple. In reality, if we don't invest in local content we will have a market flooded with content from overseas. This content is fine—it's good; it's often fantastic—but it does not reflect our landscape, our history, our humour, our grief or our way of life. The Australian child who grows up without an Australian picture book is a child who grows up without seeing their world reflected back at them. The Australian teenager who never reads an Australian novel is a teenager who must enter a world through an American or European lens. We can't accept that.

This Labor government does not accept that. Australian stories deserve the same platform, and the Australians who tell them deserve a government that backs them and that invests in their work. This legislation modernises a scheme that has served Australian literature well for more than 50 years. It gives Educational Lending Right the legislative foundation it has long deserved. It covers ebooks and audiobooks for the first time in primary legislation. It improves governance and accountability, and it sends a clear signal that this Labor government will always stand with those who tell Australian stories.

Gough Whitlam understood in 1974 that a great nation is one that values its artists. My own community in Maribyrnong knows this better than most. It's home not only to Helen Garner but to Jenny Hocking, the acclaimed biographer who has devoted much of her career to documenting Whitlam's legacy and fighting to bring its hidden history into light. The work of writers like Jenny reminds us that Australian stories are not just novels and picture books; they are a record of who we are and how we got here.

In his memoir, Island Home, Tim Winton wrote about what it means to belong to this country. He said:

This country leans in on you. Like family. To my way of thinking, it is family.

This country is family, and the writers who give voice to it—who find the words for its landscape, its humour and its particular way of being—are doing something that no-one else can do. They are keeping that family story alive. In doing so, they deserve our support and they deserve to be paid for their work. This bill invests in that. It invests in those thousand tiny decisions, it invests in the courage of those willing to document our hidden history and, importantly, it invests in Australia. I commend the bill to the House.

Mary Aldred (Monash, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's always a pleasure to follow my colleague the member for Maribyrnong. I too rise to speak on the bills before us today: the Public and Educational Lending Rights (Better Income for Authors) Bill 2026 and the Public and Educational Lending Rights (Better Income for Authors) Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions Bill 2026. The coalition will support these bills because, at their core, they are sensible and practical reforms that modernise the governance and administration of longstanding programs supporting Australian authors and publishers.

Books matter. Stories matter. History matters. As someone who is passionate about promoting civics education in our schools, telling our own history in our own voices is important. The ability of Australians to record our national history, preserve local history, educate future generations and entertain readers through literature is an essential part of who we are as a nation. Public libraries and school libraries play a central role in that mission. They provide free access to knowledge and opportunity, regardless of your postcode, background or income.

While Australians rightly value free access to books, we must also recognise the work of the people who create them. Authors dedicate years to research, writing, editing and publishing, often with no guarantee of financial success. That is why public lending rights and educational lending rights are important. These schemes recognise a simple principle. When books are made freely available through libraries and educational institutions, authors and publishers should receive fair recognition and compensation for that use. The Public Lending Right Scheme has existed in legislative form since 1985. The Educational Lending Right Scheme has operated administratively for decades, including after its establishment by a coalition government in the 2000-01 budget. These bills bring both schemes into one single legislative framework for the first time. They modernise administration, improve consistency and provide greater certainty for the future operation of both programs. They are worthwhile reforms, and the coalition will support them

We must also be honest about what these bills do not do. Despite the title 'better income for authors', these bills do not increase funding for authors or publishers. They do not expand the overall funding pool, change payment calculations or deliver significantly improved financial outcomes for Australian writers. Too often this Labor government announces reforms with impressive titles only for Australians to discover the substance does not match the spin. Payments under these schemes remain capped within an annual allocation of around $28 million. Last financial year, more than 17,000 payments were made, totalling just over $28 million. That framework remains substantially unchanged in this legislation. So yes, the bills modernise governance and provide legislative certainty, but no, they are not a transformative funding package for Australian authors.

Australian authors are facing real pressures. Publishing has changed dramatically. Most recently I travelled into Melbourne to speak at a function put together by a range of publishers and authors looking at how new technology can innovate and transform the way some of that material is communicated and made available to more people across the world. The fact is that costs have risen and that global competition is intense. For many authors, writing alone is no longer enough to provide a sustainable income. For some, lending rights payments are not simply a bonus; they're an important supplementary income source that helps to make continued writing possible.

This is particularly true for historians and regional writers. I'd like to give a shout-out to Jenny Hammett. She doesn't live in my electorate. She lives next door in my good friend and colleague the member for Gippsland's electorate. She's from Traralgon, and she has dedicated countless hours to writing the history of that town and other parts of Gippsland.

I want to acknowledge several other authors whose work has made an important contribution to preserving Australian stories and our regional history. Roland Perry's work documenting General Sir John Monash has helped generations of Australians better understand one of our most significant military and nation-building figures in the history of this nation. Through authors like Roland Perry, Australians are able to engage with that legacy in a meaningful and accessible way, and it was an honour to meet Roland Perry recently at the Victorian Association of Jewish Ex and Servicemen and Women's Anzac commemoration in Melbourne. I commend Roland Perry's book on General Sir John Monash, Monash:The Outsider Who Won a War, because Roland Perry so brilliantly speaks not only of how wars were won—and many thanks to Monash's legacy—but also how Monash taught us the importance of how lives were valued on the battlefield.

On the topic of the two best books—and that's one of them—that I believe to have been written on the life and legacy of John Monash, I have to acknowledge the late, great Hon. Tim Fischer, a former member of this place and former deputy prime minister. His book, Maestro John Monash, eulogising one of our greatest Australians, someone who I believe is our greatest Australian, John Monash, is a magnificent read. I've got a photo, which I really treasure, of a very much younger me and Mr Fischer and his book on Monash in my office.

I also want to acknowledge Reverend Canon Doctor Jim Connelly OAM of Warragul, a teacher, priest, historian and storyteller of Gippsland who was once described as the conscience of Warragul. Raised in Garfield and still proudly calling Warragul home, Dr Connelly has authored 14 books, spanning children's fiction, local history and regional storytelling, all deeply connected to Gippsland. After my election, Dr Connelly sent me a signed copy of his book, Round and About in Gippsland, and it's a privilege to have that displayed with great pride in my Parliament House office. Round and About in Gippsland paints a portrait of the many towns and communities that make up our region. Mountain Boy is a powerful fiction story following a young boy with a disability who is determined to climb Mount Cannibal against the odds. Calling Gippsland Home:Famous Men and Women of Gippsland shines a light on the remarkable achievements of Gippslanders from all walks of life. Growing up in GarfieldGarfield is now slightly outside of my electorate—helps preserve the history and character of one of our region's small but very proud communities. Dr Connelly's work reflects the importance of regional storytellers in preserving local identity, community memory and the unique character of places like Gippsland for future generations.

The same can be said for John Wells and his work, Gippsland: People, a Place and their Past. That work covers the history, character and development of Gippsland and helps preserve the stories of the people and community that have helped shape our great Gippsland region. It's a book I first read over a decade ago, and it's a poignant reference of our region's history.

I also want to acknowledge Alison Lester AM, the beloved children's author and illustrator from Fish Creek in my electorate of Monash. Fish Creek is a little town in South Gippsland. Alison Lester has written and illustrated over 50 books across her 35 year career. She's a prolific Australian children's author known for over 25 picture books, including classics like Magic Beach and Are We There Yet?, as well as two young adult novels, The Quicksand Pony and The Snow Pony. Alison Lester has shaped the childhoods of generations of Australian children through stories that capture the wonder, imagination and beauty of regional Australia. Her work has received national recognition, including the Children's Book Council of Australia Picture Book of the Year Award, and deservedly so.

What makes Alison Lester's work so special is the way she tells her stories that feel unmistakeably Australian and like home. In my electorate of Monash, we're blessed with many of the magnificent landscapes that Alison Lester's storytelling captures so brilliantly—the rolling green hills, the smell of salt in the air, horses standing quietly in paddocks, winding country roads and wild southern coastlines. It's a word picture, I'm sure, Deputy Speaker Sharkie, you can associate with your own electorate as well. Alison Lester has an extraordinary ability to paint those scenes with words and illustrations. She captures not only the landscape itself but the feeling of growing up in regional Australia—the freedom, the adventure and the connection to community and nature.

I also want to acknowledge Patrick Morgan, a wonderful Gippsland historian who I first met in my 20s as a participant in the Gippsland Community Leadership Program. Australian writing is not limited to traditional historical literature, though. Modern creators such as Mastro Mayhem are engaging younger audiences in new and evolving ways, reflecting the changing nature of storytelling in Australia.

Don Watson is perhaps best known as Paul Keating's speechwriter. Among his most acclaimed speeches is, of course, the speech for the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which is brilliantly written. Don grew up on a dairy farm in my electorate, and many years ago he accepted my invitation to present the Gippsland Annual Leadership Address. He's a wonderful author, and I've enjoyed our conversations very much over the years.

The late, great Michael Gordon, who was an acclaimed journalist, author and member of the press gallery here, wasn't a Monash constituent, but he was a regular visitor, particularly to Phillip Island, where he tragically passed away a number of years ago. He and his father, Harry, were passionate Hawthorn supporters, like I am, and I've enjoyed very much their books on Hawthorn, including The Hard Way. I treasure a hand-signed book by Michael Gordon on Hawthorn that I have in my office. I know he was a great friend to many longer serving members in this place.

Whether documenting military history, preserving regional stories or connecting with younger generations through modern formats, Australian authors all contribute to our cultural life and deserve recognition for their work. A positive aspect of this legislation is the formal inclusion of the educational lending rights into legislation. As other speakers have referenced, this provides greater certainty, transparency and accountability. The bill will also modernise eligibility arrangements and streamline advisory committee processes. These are sensible and measured reforms.

But governance alone is not sufficient. If this parliament is serious about supporting Australian writing and Australian culture, we must also be willing to have a broader conversation around sustainability, funding and longer term support because culture cannot survive on announcements alone. It requires ongoing investment, practical support and governments willing to prioritise outcomes rather than headlines.

Libraries remain one of the great equalisers in Australian society, particularly in regional communities like mine. They are places of learning, literacy and connection. In many towns they are also vital community hubs. That is why lending rights schemes matter. We should encourage Australians to read, support strong libraries and ensure authors are appropriately recognised when their work is widely used through those systems. The coalition have consistently supported that principle—we supported those programs in government and we support them today—but we will also continue to ask whether enough is being done to genuinely support Australian authors in a rapidly changing environment. Governance reform is one part of the equation. If we truly want better income for authors, it requires more than administrative restructuring; it needs sustained commitment and practical support.

Australian authors help shape our national identity. They preserve our history, educate future generations and ensure Australian voices continue to be heard in an increasingly crowded global marketplace. That is worth supporting, that is worth valuing and that is why the coalition will support these bills. They modernise important programs and strengthen existing frameworks. But we should also be clear-eyed about their limitations. They do not significantly increase funding, they do not fundamentally change payment structures and they do not, by themselves, solve the financial pressures Australian writers are facing—and that is an important challenge to solve. It's an important challenge for young Australians; it's an important challenge for children; it's an important challenge for migrants and our multicultural communities right across Australia.

One of the greatest joys of my early 20s was volunteering to help a young migrant student with English literature as one of his VCE subjects. The way that textbooks and literature were able to capture his imagination and encourage him was a great joy for me to watch. It was just such a wonderful privilege to be able to encourage that young student, who was incredibly smart and I know had a very bright future ahead of him. So the challenge remains and we all must face up to that. I commend the bill.

Tom French (Moore, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to support the Public and Educational Lending Rights (Better Income for Authors) Bill 2026 and the companion Public and Educational Lending Rights (Better Income for Authors) Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions Bill. This is a good bill. It is good for Australian authors. It is good for Australian publishers. It is good for libraries. And, ultimately, it is good for readers, because if we want Australian stories on Australian shelves then the people who write, illustrate, translate, edit and publish those stories need to be able to keep doing the work. That should not be controversial, although in the arts even the obvious sometimes has to be legislated.

This bill is about a simple proposition: when Australian books are made freely available through public and educational libraries, the people who created and published those books should receive fair recognition—not charity, not a pat on the head, but recognition and payment for work. That is the principle at the heart of the public and educational lending rights. It is also a principle I strongly support. I am a supporter of the arts, not because the arts are decorative but because they are part of the infrastructure of a good society. They are how we tell our stories. They are how we record who we are. They are how kids find a world bigger than the one immediately in front of them. They are how communities like mine in Moore see themselves reflected back with honesty, humour, beauty and occasionally an alarming degree of accuracy.

Libraries sit right in the centre of that. In Moore, the City of Joondalup libraries at Joondalup, Duncraig, Whitford and Woodvale are much more than buildings with shelves. They are community infrastructure. They are places where kids discover books they did not know they needed. They are places where parents can take their children without needing to spend money. They are places where older Australians stay connected, informed and curious. They are places where someone can borrow a novel, learn a language, watch a documentary, join a program or simply sit somewhere quiet without being expected to buy a coffee every 20 minutes. That is a fairly radical proposition in the modern economy, and it is one worth defending. Libraries make culture available to everyone, regardless of income. That is one of the great democratic achievements of public life.

But there is another side to that equation. Free access for readers should not mean unpaid work for writers, and that is what lending rights recognise. When a book is available in a public library or an educational library, that availability has value. The community benefits from it, the readers benefit from it, students benefit from it, schools benefit from it, and the author should benefit from it as well.

The Public Lending Right Scheme has been part of the Australian cultural landscape since the Whitlam government approved it in 1974. That matters. It reflects a very Labor idea—that access to culture should be broad but that the people who make the culture should not be expected to survive on applause. Applause is lovely, but it does not pay the rent, it does not cover groceries, and it is notoriously difficult to use at tax time. The reality is that many Australian authors do not earn large incomes from writing. The minister has noted that the average income for an Australian writer in 2021 to 2022 was reportedly $16,100. That is not a sustainable income. It is not even close. Yet these are the people whose books sit in our libraries, whose stories are read in classrooms, whose work helps shape our national imagination. We should want more Australian writers writing Australian stories. We should want children in Gwelup, Padbury, Craigie and Heathridge to pick up books that speak in Australian voices. We should want emerging writers to look at the industry and think: 'There is a pathway here. It is difficult, but it is possible.' This bill helps with that. It will not solve every challenge in the literary sector, and no-one is pretending it will. But it gives practical, concrete measures that improve the system and give creators certainty.

In the 2024-25 financial year, more than 17,000 payments were made to eligible creators and publishers through these schemes, totalling more than $28 million. For some people, the payment may be modest. For many creators, it matters. It can be the difference between taking the time to write the next book and having to put the manuscript away. It can be the difference between staying in the industry and leaving it. It can be the difference between an Australian story being written and that story never existing at all. That is why this bill matters.

The bill brings the public lending right and educational lending right schemes together in a single contemporary legislative framework that is sensible. The public lending right has had a statutory basis for decades. The educational lending right has operated administratively since 2000. This bill brings them together under one roof that gives authors, publishers, schools, libraries and government a clearer and more modern framework. It also recognises that educational libraries matter. The books that students encounter at school can stay with them for life. Sometimes, it is the book a teacher puts in your hands at exactly the right moment. Sometimes, it is the novel you were supposed to read but only appreciated later. I am looking at The Great Gatsby right now! Sometimes it is the book you pretend not to like, because you're 14 and are therefore required by law to be unimpressed by everything. Those books matter. The people who create them matter too.

The second important reform that this bill recognises is the digital formats. That is essential. People still borrow physical books, and I hope they always will, but they also borrow ebooks and audiobooks. They borrow through platforms like Libby and Hoopla. They listen in the car, on the train, on a walk, while cooking dinner or while pretending to clean the garage. That is how people read now, and the law should reflect that. A lending rights scheme that did not properly deal with ebooks and audiobooks would be a scheme looking backwards. This bill looks forward. The government expanded the schemes to include digital content through the Revive national cultural policy. This bill locks that recognition into legislation. It is important because creators deserve certainty. If digital borrowing is part of the modern library system, then digital borrowing should be part of the modern lending rights system. That is not radical; it is just keeping up.

The bill also establishes a unified public and educational lending rights committee, with representation from authors, publishers, libraries and the Public Service. That is good design. The people affected by the scheme should have a role in advising on how it operates. It means the framework is not just imposed from above; it is informed by the people who understand the sector and the practical realities of writing, publishing and library lending.

The companion bill then deals with the necessary transitional rights. That is the sort of thing that rarely makes headlines, and fair enough—transitional provisions are generally not where the nation goes looking for glamour. But they matter. They ensure continuity. They protect existing claimants. They make sure the system moves from the old framework to the new without unnecessary disruption. In plain terms, the machinery needs to work, and this bill makes sure it does.

I also want to speak more broadly on why this matters to communities like mine. Moore is not just a place of roads, schools, hospitals, shops and sporting clubs, although all of those matter deeply. It is also a place of creativity. We have local writers, we have musicians, we have visual artists, we have choirs, orchestras, community arts groups, school productions, festivals, exhibitions and people making extraordinary work, often with very limited resources.

Earlier this year, I hosted Susan Templeman, the Special Envoy for the Arts, in Joondalup, and we brought together local arts organisations and community representatives, including people from the Peter Cowan Writers Centre, the Joondalup Symphony Orchestra   , the Mirabilis Collective, Creative Edge Art Collective, the Joondalup Community Arts Association and the City of Joondalup. The message in that room was clear: there is enormous talent in our community. There is ambition and there is generosity, but there are also real challenges in sustaining creative work. That is why I keep saying, 'Culture is infrastructure.' It is not an optional extra. It is not something that should get considered after everything else is done. It is part of what makes a place liveable, connected and confident.

Joondalup is increasingly recognised as Western Australia's second CBD, and, if we are serious about that, we need to think about the cultural infrastructure as part of the city we are building. That means venues, it means festivals, it means public art, it means live music, it means libraries, it means writing centres, and it means supporting the people who make the work. Laneway Festival coming to the Joondalup arena showed what is possible when major cultural events are brought north of the river. The Joondalup Festival continues to show the depth of local appetite for art and culture, and our libraries show it every week in a quieter but no less important way.

This is why this bill fits within a broader view of cultural policy. It says that Australian creative work has value. It says that public access and fair payment can sit together. It says that authors and publishers should not be left behind as reading habits change. It says the Commonwealth has a role in supporting the growth and development of Australian writing and publishing. And that is the right approach.

I also welcome that this bill is framed around Australian creators and Australian publishers. Australian stories matter. We live in a world where global content is everywhere, instantly available, constantly refreshed and algorithmically served. There is nothing wrong with enjoying work from around the world, but we should never become casual about the importance of our own stories. Australian children should grow up reading Australian voices. Australian communities should see themselves in Australian books. Australian writers should be able to build careers telling Australian stories, and Australian publishers should be supported in bringing those works to readers. This is not about cultural protectionism. It is cultural confidence, and the arts help us understand ourselves. They help us argue with ourselves. They help us remember. They help us imagine something better, and sometimes, very importantly, they give us a much-needed laugh at our own expense. A country that cannot do that is in trouble.

This bill is practical, modern and fair. It consolidates the schemes. It strengthens certainty. It recognises digital lending. It supports authors, illustrators, translators, editors and publishers. It backs libraries as democratic cultural institutions. It helps ensure Australian stories continue to be written, published, borrowed and read because behind every book borrowed from a library is someone who did the work, someone who sat down and wrote the sentences, someone who revised the manuscript, someone who illustrated the pages, someone who translated the words, someone who edited, published and produced the book and then the librarian who placed it where the reader could find it. That chain matters. This bill respects that chain. It supports the people who make the Australian literary culture possible, and it does so in a way that keeps libraries open, accessible and central to community life. That is exactly the balance we should be striking. I commend the bill to the House.

Carina Garland (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I love books, I love libraries, and I love Australian stories. I am one of the chairs of the Parliamentary Friends of Australian Books and Reading, and I am so proud to be part of a Labor government that backs Australian stories, libraries and authors every step of the way. This bill, Public and Educational Lending Rights (Better Income for Authors) Bill 2026, is an important step in recognising and supporting Australian creators and publishers who are committed to telling, preserving and amplifying important stories.

Australian stories really matter. They reflect who we are and they help shape who we become, and they've certainly shaped me. I wouldn't be who I am without Australian books and stories. I think of some of my favourites like Looking for Alibrandi, which is incredibly important to an Australian Italian person like myself. I think of The Getting of Wisdom, My Brilliant Career, Playing Beatie Bow and Robin Klein's Penny Pollard books. I think of Hazel Edwards, who lives in my electorate, and her book There's a Hippopotamus on Our Roof Eating Cake. I think of the Mary Poppins stories written by an Australian author, Pamela Lyndon Travers. I think of the work by friends of mine, including my dear friend Chloe Wilson who's just launched her first fiction work The Thornbacks. These Australian stories really matter. They amplify our experiences and preserve our voices, making sure that the world takes note of our voices and our stories.

Stories challenge us, educate us and inspire us. Literature has a great power to help us understand the world as seen through the eyes of another. When we talk about social cohesion, this is really, really important. Behind everyone of these stories is a creator, a person who has dedicated years of work, research, creativity and persistence to producing something of real value for the Australian public to enjoy. Australian authors pay a fundamental and often undervalued role in our society.

Before entering this place, I studied literature, including Australian literature, at university. I worked as an academic and as a researcher, and I know how important authors are. Without authors, without people willing to dedicate themselves to knowledge, evidence, storytelling and scholarship—this is not just about fiction work here; we're talking about Australian non-fiction too—our society would be profoundly different. Australian authors inform public debate, often provoke public debate. Australian authors inform government and inform policy. Whether it is in the area of health research, environmental science, economics, education, Indigenous history or social policy, as well as fiction of course, authors make an extraordinary contribution to our national landscape. Australian writers help define our culture by telling local stories in local voices. These are stories about our suburbs, our regions, our environment, our workplaces, our schools and our communities. They are stories that Australians can see themselves in and can understand the history of our nation through. These things really matter. If Australians don't tell Australian stories, the stories will disappear.

We all have, in this place, a responsibility to back Australian stories and creativity where we can. In my very first speech in this place I spoke about the importance of valuing culture and ensuring that this was something that the government saw as a priority, and I'm really pleased that our government does see this as a priority. For a long time public and educational lending rights have existed to ensure that Australian creators and publishers are fairly paid when their books are made available through public and educational libraries. They recognise something which is really important, which is that access to books should never come at the expense of the people who create them.

I think this is a good moment to reflect on how important libraries are as one of the great democratic institutions in this country. Sir Redmond Barry helped establish the State Library Victoria and in fact lived where my electorate now is, on the Syndal Estate. My office is just over the road from Syndal train station, which is of course named after his estate. But his legacy is not just about the names of places in our community. It's about the wonderful local institutions, like libraries, that we're all able to access. I can't think of many libraries in my electorate that I haven't spent time in as a school student or a university student, or since. I used the space to read, to study and to learn.

It is amazing what libraries offer to all of us. They're places where every Australian, regardless of income or background, can access literature, education and information and can connect with others through book clubs and other community groups. We should be very proud of our libraries here, in Australia. I think it is really fair and reasonable that when works are borrowed thousands of times through libraries the people responsible for creating those works do receive compensation for their contributions, and that's what this bill seeks to do.

This bill brings the public lending right and educational lending right schemes into a single contemporary legislative framework. It replaces the Public Lending Right Act 1985 and ensures that these important programs remain fit for purpose in a rapidly changing world, where we consume books and literature in different ways. The existing schemes have served Australia really well for decades, but we know that the way we access books has changed significantly since the 1980s. As we evolve, our laws need to follow suit.

We know that Australians increasingly borrow ebooks and audiobooks alongside traditionally printed works. Digital collections are now a normal part of our libraries and educational institutions, and they make it easier for a lot of people to access books and reading. Through Revive, our national cultural policy, the Albanese government has invested in modernising lending rights so that creators are recognised and compensated for the use of their works across these contemporary formats. This bill secures those reforms into legislation and provides a modern framework for the future. It ensures that lending rights schemes continue to adapt alongside technological change while continuing to support Australian creators and strengthen our cultural life.

There's another important principle that lies at the heart of this legislation, which is that creative work has incredible value. An author's creativity is their property, and when that work is used through a public library loan or within an educational setting it's entirely reasonable and right that the creator receives payment. We would not expect other workers to provide their labour for free simply because the public benefits from it. Creative workers deserve that same respect and deserve to be seen as workers, and their labour should be valued.

Not every person, of course, who writes a book seeks to become a full-time author. We know that. Many writers balance their creative work with other jobs and responsibilities. But it is telling that the average income for an Australian writer in 2021-22 was reportedly just $16,100. I think that figure really demonstrates the economic reality facing many creators in this country. Whilst writing is of course incredibly valuable work, both socially and culturally, it's not always valued in the same way financially. It's not always secure work, financially.

We know this legislation will not solve every challenge facing Australian authors, but it is one of the concrete things we can do as a government to provide meaningful support. We know that every bit of support matters. In the 2024-25 financial year alone, more than 17,000 payments were made to eligible Australian creators and publishers through these schemes and totalled $28 million. That is significant. For many authors, illustrators, translators, editors and publishers, these payments are not simply a bonus; they are a reliable and meaningful source of income which helps creators continue their work and helps keep books in publication, which is really important, so that we can continue to enjoy these stories and this knowledge. These payments help ensure Australian stories continue to be written, published and shared with future generations.

It's also really important, I think, to reflect on the origins of these schemes and the intent of these schemes. In 1974, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam approved the Public Lending Right Scheme with a clear and principled vision of fairness. He was, of course, a great champion of the arts. It was recognition that Australian culture does not simply happen by accident; it requires investment and support. It requires governments willing to value creative work as an essential part of national life. More than 50 years later, that remains the case, as it did then, because culture is not a luxury; it is an essential part of who we are as a nation. Through democratic institutions such as libraries, we are able to access culture in really meaningful ways right across communities in Australia.

There's something profoundly important about a young Australian picking up a book and seeing themselves reflected in its pages—seeing their community, seeing the way they live their lives, hearing languages and reading about experiences that feel familiar to them. It's also really important to understand your own country through the eyes of someone who has a different experience of Australia. Again, that is really important for social cohesion.

Every time I visit a school or early learning centre, the optimism and curiosity of our youngest Australians really excite me as a community representative, and I always try and take the time to read stories and share in finding out what books young people are interested in. Recently, I visited the Bambini Early Learning Centre in my electorate, and I got to read Wombat Stew, which is one of my old favourites from when I was a very young person. It really does teach us about creativity, resourcefulness and Australian life. It's wonderful when reading these books to see young people learn in real time. I think that Australian stories are really worth fighting for. For all of us, they're worth fighting for, but this is especially important for young people growing up in regional communities, multicultural communities and First Nations communities, for whom the connection, identity and understanding we build are so significant.

We know that public libraries and school libraries play an enormous role in making access to experiences, information and culture possible, so this legislation is fairly balanced in recognising the importance of public access to books and the importance of properly supporting the people who create them. Governments and parliaments have a responsibility not only to support economic growth and infrastructure but also to support the cultural institutions and creative industries that enrich our national life and make life worth living. A stronger Australia is not only measured in economic terms; it's measured by the strength of our ideas, our stories, our education and our cultural confidence. The core of this bill ensures that Australian creators are recognised, modernising our lending rights framework for the future and reinforcing the principle that creative work deserves real respect and fair compensation.

The Albanese Labor government understands the importance of backing Australian creators. We understand the importance of ensuring Australian stories continue to thrive in schools, libraries, homes and communities right across the country, and we understand that supporting authors and publishers is an absolute investment in Australia's cultural and economic future. This is thoughtful legislation. It is practical and it is necessary reform. It strengthens an important system that has supported Australian creators for decades, and it ensures the system remains effective, modern and sustainable for decades to come. I look forward to reading many more Australian stories and learning more about this wonderful country of ours through reading. I commend the bills to the House.

Rowan Holzberger (Forde, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise in support of the Public and Educational Lending Rights (Better Income for Authors) Bill 2026 and the associated bill. In doing so, I recognise the work the minister—the Leader of the House and the Minister for the Arts—has done. I appreciate talking to people within the arts community about how involved he is; it's part of his down-to-earth personality, and that means he really fits in with that work for that community. The work these bills do sits in the broader context of the work that the minister and the government are doing. I also pay credit to the caucus committee, which has pushed for this. It is a modest but meaningful part of the government's broader arts strategy—a strategy which is not only to the material benefit of our community but also to our cultural and spiritual benefit.

I think those that have listened to one of my speeches before know quite well that I like to claim many careers, having been a station hand, having worked in servos, having worked in Goat Works, having run a construction company. I claim to have done many things, but being an artist is not one of them; I think anyone in history who reads my speeches in this place will see that that statement is well and truly underlined! To me, a true artist is not somebody who is made but somebody who is discovered. I'm reminded of when I took my now-adult child to an art gallery in Tamborine Mountain, in the hills of the Gold Coast, when he was five years old, and the art gallery owner came up to him and said, 'Do you want to be an artist when you grow up?' He said, 'I am an artist.' I thought, 'Well, only a proper artist would say something like that.' We've got a responsibility as a community to create the space for people to create and be that person they are passionate to be, and art is one of those highest expressions.

While I might have considered myself a bit of a Philistine in my earlier life, funnily enough it was in construction that I discovered the true beauty of art, of architecture. Something was pointed out to me which I hadn't realised before: in this room around us, everything we see started off as a drawing. Something starts off as an idea in somebody's head, somehow gets converted to paper and somehow then gets passed on to somebody else, who is able to make it into form. Construction is quite an amazing thing, and it is very much where art meets science. For those that have been involved in construction and have looked at those modern drawings on CAD—computer assisted design—as much as they are an expression of human thinking, they have a certain sterility. They are sterile compared to those hand-drawn architectural sketches. When you look at some of those hand-drawn sketches, there's always a slight imperfection. It is within that imperfection that you can see the humanity of the person who has drawn it. That, I guess, did make me appreciate art a little bit more than I thought I had in the past.

But, of course, preparing for this speech today gave me a chance to reflect on my own past. Art comes in many forms. I remember being a young kid, a young teenager, in Broken Hill who was part of the Broken Hill Repertory Society, where I took part in greats such as Hello, Dolly! and Fiddler on the Roof. I also remember, as a 14-year-old, taking part in a one-act play festival. This is in a mining town in outback New South Wales. These kids had come from Mildura, Cobar and all around the countryside. That experience has really lasted with me. Those memories that I had were so incredibly fond that it's stuck with me forever.

It gave me an opportunity, now that I'm the representing the electorate of Forde, to have the honour of being the patron of the Beenleigh Theatre Group, a local repertory group which puts on fantastic performances. One I went to last year was The Lightning Thief, the Percy Jackson musical. It was my experience as a 14-year-old of the Broken Hill Repertory Society—I saw these kids coming together. They'd come from as far away as Tweed Heads, about an hour's drive from the far northern suburbs of Brisbane. These kids had come together over the school holidays, and they had welded themselves together as a team through rehearsals. I was privileged to be there on that last day that they performed. When they came out and took their final bow, the tears in their eyes were something that I could feel and I could place myself in. The relationships that they had formed and the lessons that they had learned are something that is unique to the arts. I think that really goes to show why cultivating that and giving people the space to do that is so important.

In fact, I said in my first speech that, in many ways, artistic expression is one of the most pure forms of humanity. Indeed it is what defines Homosapiens. If you go back to some of those earliest cave paintings, they are really the difference between us and the rest of the animal kingdom. It's this ability to express our thoughts in the physical world. It is what makes us human. So it is incumbent on us, as governments and societies, to give people that space.

I'm very much an optimist. While I said that in my first speech that in many ways I'm a huge believer that technology is going to create that material wealth to give us the time to really pursue our passions, I think that in many ways we're living in the Dark Ages and that people in the future will look back on us as we look back on the Romans and go, 'Jeez, they were really clever to get by with what they had, but I wouldn't like to live then.' I think that, when we've got that room to really follow our passions and follow our pursuits, that is really the highest form of being a human being.

In many ways it is us living in this world today where none of us have time. We're all flat out—not just in this place, of course, but trying to raise a kid, trying to look after a sick parent. It really means that you just don't have the time to follow your passion. That's why I think artists and authors have an income of around whatever it is—$16,000 or $17,000 a year; it's somewhere around there—because the money is actually not the important thing. It's being able to express yourself.

To bring it back to where we are and where this policy sits, it sits well and truly within the Labor Party's history of advancing Australia that the Whitlam government very much represented. It's a rejection of the cultural cringe, where we looked to the old country for our cultural leadership. The election of the Whitlam government very much marked that clear line. And so it was that the policy which we are effectively adapting today was first established as the Public Lending Right in 1974 by the Whitlam government. It's when the Whitlam government established the Australia Council. Indeed, Creative Nation was launched by prime minister Paul Keating and arts minister Michael Lee, followed by Creative Australia as the product of prime minister Gillard and arts minister Simon Crean. Here we are again, fixing, as Paul Keating called it, the 'Rip Van Winkle years' of coalition government, where nothing was done, where the forelock was tugged to the mother country. Here it is again: a reforming Labor government committed to the arts, committed to the expression of the Australian people, is taking steps to give people that space, that income, that ability to express themselves artistically.

But it is not just, of course, about the beauty of that sort of spiritual fulfilment. It is a strong economic imperative that the government has a commitment to arts policy. There's something like a $17 billion industry in Australia now which has grown up around the arts. It employs somewhere around 400,000 Australians. In Forde, there are many people working in the film industry which is burgeoning in the Gold Coast. There are not only people who are taking part in some of the technical things but also carpenters, painters and drivers, and it underlies more of our economy than many people might imagine. The fact is that, again, this sits well and truly within federal Labor's—by that, I mean the Labor Party's—commitment to Australia, their commitment to Australian culture. The idea that we can rely on other countries to give us our expression of what it means to be Australian—it just does not happen without government being involved.

And so it is that I commend this bill. This is an important bill. I just realised I was remiss when I was talking about the Beenleigh Theatre Group to not give a shout-out to Chris Art, who always makes me feel extremely welcome when I go to the performances there, and to Ros Johnson, who is, I think, in many ways the silent backbone of the organisation. It is a pleasure to be a patron of that organisation, and it is a great honour to be in this place to support this policy, which sits within that wider government policy of supporting the arts in this country.

Sam Lim (Tangney, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to 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.

Kara Cook (Bonner, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak in support of the Public and Educational Lending Rights (Better Income for Authors) Bill 2026, legislation that recognises the value of Australian storytelling and the people who bring those stories to life.

Libraries are one of the great public institutions in our country. They open doors to imagination, education and opportunities for Australians of every background and every generation. They are places where children discover a love of reading for the very first time. They are places where students access knowledge and learning resources regardless of their circumstances. They are places where older Australians stay connected to their communities and where people can access information, ideas and stories freely and openly.

But, while books may be borrowed freely through public and educational libraries, the work behind those books is not free. Behind every novel, textbook, audiobook or children's story is an Australian creator whose work, talent and time deserve to be recognised. This bill does exactly that. The public and educational lending right schemes ensure Australian book creators and publishers are compensated for the loss of income that can occur through the free multiple use of their work in Australian public and educational lending libraries. This includes authors, illustrators, editors, translators, compilers and publishers, all of whom contribute enormously to Australia's cultural and literary landscape.

The Public Lending Right Scheme was first established by the Whitlam Labor government in 1974 to ensure more support made its way into the pockets of Australian authors, publishers and illustrators. It reflected an important principle then, and it remains an important principle today—that creators deserve fair recognition and fair compensation for their work. This bill continues that proud Labor legacy of supporting Australian arts, culture and storytelling.

Australian literature matters, Australian stories matter, and Australian creators matter. Australia's literature sector is home to some of the country's greatest storytellers—people who help shape our national identity, reflect our communities and tell uniquely Australian stories. Whether it is fiction, poetry, educational resources, historical writing or children's literature, Australian writers help Australians see themselves and their communities reflected in literature. These works are not just entertainment; they help preserve culture. They build empathy and understanding. They strengthen literacy and education. They challenge ideas and encourage curiosity. And, of course, they connect our communities. Australian children deserve to grow up reading Australian stories written by Australian authors about Australian experiences. They deserve to see Australian suburbs, humour, landscapes and voices reflected in the books they read because, when young people see their own communities, landscapes and voices reflected on the page, it tells them that their stories matter too. When these stories are shared through our libraries and educational institutions, it is only fair that the creators behind those works are recognised and supported.

This bill consolidates the public lending right and educational lending right schemes into a single legislative framework, creating a more modern, streamlined and coherent system. Importantly, it also establishes the Educational Lending Right Scheme and legislation for the very first time. Currently, the Educational Lending Right Scheme operates administratively without a legislative basis. This bill changes that. The legislation also modernises governance arrangements. It establishes a new public and educational lending rights committee with a more modern appointment process and disclosure requirements. It clarifies the committee's advisory role and transfers some operational decision-making processes to the secretary, formalising arrangements that are already occurring administratively. These reforms are about ensuring the scheme remains effective, accountable and fit for purpose into the future.

Another important aspect of this legislation is that it reflects the changing ways Australians engage with literature. Australians are increasingly reading digitally, whether through ebooks or audiobooks borrowed through local libraries and educational institutions. Consistent with the Albanese Labor government's national cultural policy, Revive, the schemes were expanded in 2023 to include ebooks and audiobooks. This legislation supports and embeds that modernised framework, and this is important because Australians do not engage with literature in the same way they did decades ago. Technology has changed the way people read, learn and access information. Students increasingly access educational material digitally, families borrow audiobooks for long drives and school drop-offs—I aspire for mine to be one of those families!—and older Australians use ebooks with adjustable text and accessible technology. People are engaging with literature in more ways than ever before, and our legislative framework should reflect that reality. This bill helps ensure the lending rights framework keeps pace with this modern publishing and library environment.

Literacy and reading remain absolutely fundamental to opportunity in Australia. The ability to read, learn and engage with literature shapes educational outcomes, employment opportunities and lifelong wellbeing.

This legislation is also about recognising that creative work has economic value. Too often we speak about the arts purely in cultural terms without recognising that writers, illustrators and publishers are workers too. They deserve fair remuneration for the contribution they make to our economy, our education system and our national culture. Writing is absolutely work, publishing is work, illustration is work, editing is work, translation is work, and these creators deserve to be supported. Labor has always understood this. We know that strong arts and cultural sectors do not happen by accident; they require investment recognition and support for the people who create and share Australian stories. This government is committed to ensuring Australian writers, publishers and creators are supported not only to preserve our culture but also to continue telling the stories that shape our national identity. This bill is part of that commitment.

In 2024-25 alone, more than 17,000 payments totalling over $28 million were made to eligible creators and publishers through these schemes. That included more than $14.7 million in public lending right payments and more than $13.3 million in educational lending right payments. These are not abstract numbers. These payments help Australian creators continue doing the work that they love. They help support authors writing their next novel. They help educational publishers continue producing Australian educational content. They help illustrators, translators and editors continue contributing to Australia's literary sector. Importantly, they help ensure Australian voices continue to be heard.

This bill is also part of the Albanese Labor government's broader commitment to supporting Australian arts and culture. That commitment is reflected through Revive, the government's national cultural policy, which recognises the importance of supporting the Australian creative industries and Australian cultural identity. It is also reflected in the establishment of Writing Australia within Creative Australia to become a dedicated hub supporting writers, publishers and the broader literature sector. Labor understands that supporting Australian literature means supporting Australian voices, and we understand that if we want Australian stories to continue being told, we must support the people who create them.

In communities like mine in Bonner, in Queensland, libraries continue to play an incredibly important role. They are welcoming community spaces used by families, students, seniors and local residents each and every day. The Wynnum Library and Carindale Library are spaces that I and my family enjoy visiting regularly. They provide access to education, technology, information and literature regardless of a person's income or background. Local libraries host children's reading programs, community activities, study spaces and lifelong learning opportunities. They are places of inclusion and places of connection. Through this bill, we are ensuring that the creators whose work fills those shelves—Brisbane authors like Trent Dalton, Nick Earls and Rebecca Sparrow—are properly recognised and supported.

This bill strikes a vital balance. It preserves free public access to books and literature through our libraries while ensuring Australian creators and publishers receive fair compensation for their work. It modernises an important framework, it supports Australian storytelling and it reflects the way Australians engage with literature today. It continues Labor's proud legacy of supporting Australian arts and culture. I commend this bill.

Josh Wilson (Fremantle, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Climate Change and Energy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm really glad to be able to make some remarks in support of the Public and Educational Lending Rights (Better Income for Authors) Bill 2026 and the Public and Educational Lending Rights (Better Income for Authors) Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions Bill 2026. It's a significant consolidation of the arrangements that have been in place since the Whitlam government, quite rightly, decided that that, as a matter of fairness, authors should get the benefit from the proliferation of their works through libraries and educational institutions.

I support what this government has done in extending that to cover digital formats, which, as the member for Bonner rightly said, is how many Australians now enjoy Australian stories and Australian literature. I also support, and am glad for this opportunity to highlight, the significance of the contribution that Australian authors, writers, storytellers and picture-book illustrators make to our broad wellbeing and the sustainment of our distinctively Australian identity.

Making sure that authors and writers get paid fairly for the work that they do is a matter of justice for those people as workers and, frankly, as Australian manufacturers. We talk about a future made in Australia. In this country, there are very few more important things that we make than cultural products. When we consider books and stories—when we consider films, music, works of theatre, dance and all of the many expressions of creativity and cultural production—they are something essential to life in Australia. If you think about things that are made in Australia and manufacturing in Australia, they really should be at the very top of the priority tree.

While we want to see more and more things made in Australia, as a matter of economic diversification, economic self-sufficiency, supply chain sovereignty and all of those things, the reality is that it probably doesn't matter a great deal in the lived experience of Australians, whether, say, a beverage was manufactured in Australia or came in from overseas. I like to drink Australian-made beverages, but, at the end of the day, if someone gives you a glass and it's got lemonade in it, the experiential difference between lemonade that may have been made here and lemonade that may have been imported is not all that great.

When it comes to cultural products, there is a vast difference. It is not the same to say that, if all the novels we read in this country were written somewhere else, there would be no difference to the quality of Australian life. It is not true to say that, if all the music we listen to, all the theatre we see and all the films we enjoy were made somewhere else, there would be no experiential difference, no difference to our identity and no difference to our capacity to understand ourselves, to consider our circumstances or to imagine our best future. It's not true to say that that wouldn't be massively affected for the worse if we weren't able—particularly as young Australians—to access the stories, songs, theatrical performances and dance that have origins here, in our experience and in our landscape. This is especially relevant, of course, for those works that that touch on, draw upon, engage with or seek to interrogate and resolve the most interesting and complex parts of our identity and our history, starting with our First Nations cultural heritage—our most precious heritage as the longest continuous civilisation on earth.

Those things are sustained by arts and creativity, cultural production and all the people who contribute to that in Australia. It is essential. It is vital. We know that the health of that broad creative ecosystem is at risk from all of the things that can impact on the people who are drawn vocationally to make that contribution. And some of them are those global market forces. There are times when it would be easier and cheaper if what we watched on our screens had been made somewhere else, but we cannot accept that. We cannot allow that to occur. One of the ways that we make sure Australian storytelling, Australian voices, Australian experiences and Australian language are kept at the core of our national experience is by making sure that the people who devote themselves, their skill and their expertise to that enterprise are properly supported. And this is just one small part of it. I'm not here to say today that public lending rights make the distinctive difference. There's a whole range of things, and we need to keep focusing on them. I know that Minister Burke and the Special Envoy for the Arts, the member for Macquarie, who's just entered the Federation Chamber, are at work on that all day, every day.

For me, writing and storytelling and books are special for a couple of reasons. When I was young, it was my ambition to make a life as a writer. When people say, 'Well, how did you ultimately come to be involved in representative work?' I say that it was by first being a failed novelist. I worked as a travel writer; I wrote and published short fiction. I did a range of things. I don't regret any of the many wonderful and sometimes difficult and frustrating hours that I spent on those novel manuscripts, even though, ultimately, they weren't good enough to enter the public realm or end up on the shelves of a library. From my own personal experience, I know that the contribution that writers and authors make is massive. I've had some experience in seeking to be a contributor to that—unsuccessfully.

I've obviously had much more extensive experience as a reader. I know that there are—well, I would say virtually every Australian will have, through reading, some Australian stories as part of the formation of themselves, as part of the way they have come to understand the things that are valuable to them and precious in their community, particularly stories that allow us to see ourselves and to understand ourselves better.

I really welcome what this bill is contributing. And I want to take the opportunity, while talking about the necessary support of Australian writing and Australian literature, to reflect on its significance in my community in Fremantle. Fremantle has been a place that has nurtured the creative arts in all its dimensions over a long period of time. That includes a number of significant writers and it includes a number of significant literary organisations. A couple of them have celebrated birthdays recently and I just want to touch upon them.

First and foremost, Fremantle Press just marked its 50th anniversary. It has been one of the most critical arts and culture organisations in Western Australia. And, as a matter of full disclosure, my wife, Georgia, works at Fremantle Press as the fiction and non-fiction publisher. I think the work she does is amazing. One of the things I love is when, in our house, I'm occasionally allowed into her study and I get to see the shelves of books that she's had a hand in seeing into print. That's an incredible legacy. I sometimes wonder about the impact I might be having on the world when I see all of the really amazing stories, fiction and non-fiction, that Georgia has supported authors to see become part of our experience in Australia. It reminds me that the work that cultural creators do in this country is seriously undervalued. What Fremantle Press has done—some of the hardest work in the publishing world is dedicated to identifying and seeing stories into print, particularly unpublished Western Australian voices. That is a challenge in a great continent like ours, because some jurisdictions that are outside the Melbourne-Sydney-Canberra triangle can face all of the barriers and the disadvantages that come from that smaller scale and that distance. Having a press like Fremantle Press in WA helps bring forward, for all our benefit, writers like Elizabeth Jolley, AB Facey, Sally Morgan, Kim Scott, Joan London, Dave Warner, David Whish-Wilson, Dianne Wolfer and many, many others.

I say happy birthday to Fremantle Press and recognise the incredible work that they've done over 50 years and that I know will continue for the next half-century and beyond. I'm glad that Creative Australia's Plus1 program was able to support Fremantle Press in finding their new headquarters in the old SEC Substation down in Fremantle—what will be their 'forever home'. As they reach the half-century, being able to occupy new headquarters, after having moved various times over the years, is a great step in securing a foundation for Western Australian writing for a considerable period of time.

I also want to acknowledge the 10th birthday of the Paper Bird bookshop. It's Perth's only specialist children's bookshop, and it also functions as a dedicated arts and culture centre for young people. It was created 10 years ago down in Fremantle, and it's a beautiful place. It's a place that, for lots and lots of young people and their parents—and for not-so-young people—is a kind of treasure island of children's and young adults' literature and of the work by illustrators that is often part of that. That includes a lot of books that Fremantle Press has been involved in that draw upon our incredibly rich First Nations history—both the subject matter of those stories and the language—like Noongar First Words and those kinds of publications, which I wish I had had the benefit of reading when I read books at primary school but which kids now do get to enjoy. That's something we should recognise.

I'll conclude by saying that we need to maintain our focus on the importance of cultural production—that kind of future made in Australia. We need to keep recognising that, however our system works, it doesn't properly reward or support those kinds of producers. That's just the way it is. The average income of an Australian writer is just a bit more than $18,000; it doesn't even get over the tax-free threshold. The public lending rights arrangements do send significant and rightful support to the producers of works. If you look at that $28 million across 17,000 payments, it's probably $1,700 per author, on average. It's an important contribution. They ought to have it as a matter of right.

But we should nevertheless recognise that, if you are a writer, a musician, a playwright, a painter, a visual artist or a person who's creating original choreography, you are struggling. You make a choice out of that vocational commitment. What goes with that choice, inevitably, is economic uncertainty. For many, many Australian artists, the reality is that, while they pursue their art and while they make an essential contribution to our wellbeing, they almost start from a position of having to ask, 'What's going to be the way that I earn a living so that I can also write these incredible novels and produce these amazing albums, these great films and so on?' We need to say to ourselves, 'That's not right.' We should continue to try to be creative in finding ways to make sure that those creators and those workers get a fair go. I say this cautiously, but it's good that you can be a run-of-the-mill anything—a run-of-the-mill bricklayer, a run-of-the-mill dentist, a run-of-the-mill politician—and be able to earn a fair living. You could be an absolutely first-rate author, first-rate musician or first-rate playwright, and you will struggle. There are so few Australian artists who can really go into their work as professionals and have the expectation of that security. That's something we should keep trying to fix.

Susan Templeman (Macquarie, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is a particular kind of silence that exists in a library. It's not an empty silence; it's a living one. It's the silence of curiosity, of imagination at work, of children discovering worlds larger than their own and of someone reaching for comfort, knowledge, escape or recognition between the covers of a book. In every city, town and suburb across Australia, libraries hold the accumulated voices of generations: histories, poems, field guides, children's stories, novels and memoirs, and behind each of those books is a writer who worked, often for years and years, to turn their thoughts into language. Everyone deserves access to those words. It's a cornerstone of a fair and democratic society like ours. We must also ensure that our writers are fairly remunerated for the contribution they make to our society and culture.

The public lending right and educational lending right schemes are an important way of reconciling these two objectives. These programs are founded on the simple principle that, while the public benefits from free access to books through libraries and educational institutions, the people who created those books should be compensated for the income they would otherwise have earned through direct sales. They're based on the belief that public access and fair payment can coexist, that libraries should be free and that writers should not be expected to survive on gratitude alone. The origins of these programs lie in the reforming ambition of the Whitlam government.

In 1974, the Whitlam government introduced the public lending right, which recognised that books on library shelves represented labour, not just culture. Whitlam said that the Public Lending Right Scheme marked Australia as a nation that 'recognises the value of creative writing' and that recognises 'the place of literature and the arts in a robust and civilised society'. He said that 'governments cannot create good writing or great art, but they can create the conditions in which art and literature are most likely to flourish'. The educational lending right followed, which acknowledged the irreplaceable role that books play in Australian classrooms. Today, these programs are a vital part of the cultural fabric of this country.

For many authors—children's writers, poets and literary fiction authors in particular—these payments are among the most reliable sources of income they receive from their creative practice. In 2024-25, the Australian government distributed $28 million in lending rights payments to more than 17,000 creators and publishers. Our national cultural policy, Revive, expanded the program to include digital lending rights for the first time, which increased payments by $3.38 million in the first year alone. As significant as these payments are, they pale in comparison to the economic impact of our literature sector.

In New South Wales alone, the sector contributes $1.3 billion a year to the economy and supports up to 22,000 jobs. Writers in Australia, though, are rarely wealthy. Even our most accomplished authors often sustain themselves through teaching, speaking engagements, grants, festivals and casual work. The Australian Society of Authors has noted that Australian authors earn on average only about $18,000 a year from their creative practice. About 76 per cent of authors reported earning less than $15,000 annually from their creative work. These figures should give us all pause.

We ask a great deal of our writers. We ask them to preserve memory; interrogate power; explain the complexity of life to children and adults; and illuminate grief, love, injustice and joy. We ask them to hold up mirrors to who we are and open windows into worlds that we have not yet explored. There are more than 5,000 professional authors living in Australia, and I'm proud that a disproportionate number of them live in my electorate of Macquarie. I'm going to make no effort to name them all, but the Blue Mountains has become one of the great literary landscapes of Australia and has drawn writers for generations—writers like David Brooks, whose poetry has woven together language, memory and the natural world with extraordinary sensitivity, and who recently received the Prime Minister's Literary Award for Poetry; and writers like Jennifer Rowe, known to generations of readers as Emily Rodda, whose stories have shaped the imaginations of countless children. These are just two writers whose work is shared widely through libraries across the country and enriches Australians' lives in ways that are impossible to measure.

The PLR and the ELR recognise that the circulation of literary work through our communities and the permeation of ideas throughout our culture is a public good. For the authors who benefit from the program, the payments matter enormously not because they create vast wealth but because they create possibility—a few more months to write, the freedom to reduce other work, the chance to begin another manuscript and, importantly, a tangible indication that their country values what they do.

The Albanese government understands the symbolic and material importance of this program. That's why we're ensuring it remains modern and responsive to the world as it changes. Publishing has changed dramatically in recent decades. Books now move not only through physical shelves but through digital platforms, audiobooks and online lending systems—so our policy settings must evolve too. This is where the previous Liberal government failed Australian writers. For years, the Australian Society of Authors and other sector advocates warned that the schemes were falling behind the realities of modern reading. Gone were the days—my days—of holding a torch under the blankets, reading a book. Now, ebooks and audiobooks are increasingly common in public libraries and educational settings, just as they are in the home. But the policy framework has not kept pace. At a time when many creators were already under financial strain, the previous government allowed that inequity to persist for far too long.

We should remember what the past decade has looked like for creative workers. The previous government enacted cuts that hit individual artists and writers particularly hard. Then the pandemic devastated arts incomes almost overnight. Income from school visits, festival appearances and speaking engagements simply disappeared during lockdowns, even as Australians turned to books in extraordinary numbers; that was the cruel irony of it.

People speak warmly about books. They talk about the importance of reading to children, literacy and Australian stories. That appreciation must also be reflected materially in the way we support the people who create those works. That's what the PLR and the ELR are about. A manuscript can take years of painstaking work, revision and persistence. Most books do not produce large incomes but a single book can stay alive in a community for decades, borrowed and reborrowed, passed between readers, shaping lives over time. The PLR and the ELR recognise that, long after the initial sale, the cultural impact of a book continues to reverberate. This matters especially in a country like Australia, where local voices can be easily overwhelmed by the scale and market power of global media.

The Albanese government understands that creativity requires more than recognition; it requires systemic support that allows artists to keep working. Australian literature will thrive because people believe in it, fight for it and invest in it. Australian culture cannot thrive with set-and-forget policymaking any more than our literature sector can be sustained by admiration alone.

The modernisation of the PLR and the ELR is by no means the limit of our support for Australian literature. During the consultation for our National Cultural Policy, Revive, we heard from many that literature was the most chronically and structurally underfunded art form. Through that policy, we created Writing Australia within Creative Australia. Writing Australia is now providing direct support for the literature sector, growing local and international audiences for Australian books. In its first three years, Writing Australia will deliver more than $26 million. This is in addition to the $7.8 million that Creative Australia invests annually for literature projects.

In closing, I want to acknowledge the longstanding advocacy of the Australian Society of Authors, who argued that 'Australia's lending rights schemes have fallen out of date and urgently require an upgrade'. I'm very proud that the Albanese Labor government's landmark cultural policy, Revive, answered that call and brought lending rights into the 21st century. I'm proud that this legislation takes a further step in modernising this important program upon which so many writers rely. This legislation will make commonsense, practical changes to a system that's already delivering for Australian authors. The Whitlam government understood the value of creative labour half a century ago, and the Albanese government understands it today. That's why we're ensuring the program Whitlam introduced is fit for now and fit for the future. As we look ahead to digital lending, modernised education systems and emerging technologies, we have a responsibility to ensure these schemes remain strong, contemporary and fair because Australian writers deserve more than praise after the fact. They deserve the means to keep writing, and Australia deserves to keep hearing its own voice. I commend this bill to the House.

Ed Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It is with both an even mix of pleasure and a daunting feeling that I follow the member for Macquarie. She applies a great deal of thought to this area because of a deep passion and a belief in the creativity of her fellow Australians. I want to commend her for the contribution that she just made to the House. There are a lot of elements of what the member for Macquarie touched on that I want to retrace the steps of, not the least of which is that we last year marked 50 years since the dismissal of Gough Whitlam's government. It is a point of major reflection for our side of politics because it goes to a perennial question within the party about how much or how little reform we undertake.

Prime Minister Whitlam's administration is seen as having created lessons to learn from in both a positive and negative way. I take a different view. The election of the Whitlam government was designed to usher in significant change after a period where not much change had occurred whatsoever. What was underpinning a lot of Prime Minister Whitlam's reforms was an inherent belief in something that we rarely reflect on, which is Australian exceptionalism. What Prime Minister Whitlam believed in was the power of the Australian voice. He believed in the power of Australian ideas and refused to take any suggestion that Australians, regardless of their background, should take their place in line or that we were not worthy of making contributions not only in the Australian context but also globally. I am not, by any stretch, suggesting that his administration was perfect. In fact, he later acknowledged, in his own way, some of the shortcomings of what he had done.

But the important thing is that a lot of what Prime Minister Whitlam undertook survived to this day. In this debate, around these reforms, his moves are important because it was under his administration that we first looked at being able to improve the way in which authors were remunerated for their work—not because we were reducing it to a simple matter of dollars and cents but rather because we put a value on the contribution, the thought and the fact that Australian writers considered the Australian experience, they interpreted it for Australian audiences in a way that resonated for them, and, if they undertook that work, that they were entitled through their labour to a better deal. That reform, as much as people may reflect on how much the Whitlam government did and if it did too much, too soon, endured over that period of 50 years. They made a mark, and they continue to make a mark today. Hence what has been brought forward to the parliament. I just want to commend the Minister for the Arts for championing this bill in terms of recognising and supporting Australian creators and publishers. It brings the entire scheme into a single contemporary legislative framework, it replaces the Public Lending Right Act 1985, and it also makes sure that it is fit for current purpose, which is incredibly important.

I also want to reflect on future challenges in this area. These public and educational lending rights are there for a very straightforward but important reason, and that's to ensure that creators and publishers get the money that they deserve when their books are made freely available, particularly through public and educational libraries. It is the transmission of that knowledge, that guidance, that know-how, that goes on from one generation to the next in an educational setting, in many instances, that should be recognised and remunerated. Whilst not everyone who writes a book, according to the minister, seeks to be a full-time author, he did point out—I thought this was important to restate for the record—that the average income for an Australian writer in 2021-22 was reportedly just over $16,000, which would surprise a lot of people given what is required to produce those works.

There is also an admission that the creativity captured within that work is their property. It should not be, quite frankly, stolen by those who wish to use it for other purposes or to profit from it in a way that is not right, fair or gives an opening to the author or the publisher. As I indicated earlier, it was in 1974 that Prime Minister Whitlam approved the Public Lending Right Scheme, and it was inherently underpinned by a notion of fairness, recognising the value of that work and the importance of supporting Australian voices. That endures 50 years on. The bill itself is a critical way of modernising something that took a foothold 50 years ago, has been amended from time to time and now needs to be updated.

There are, as people would be aware, threats to the ability of authors and publishers to earn what is owed to them and for their work to be respected. The principal threat comes in the form of artificial intelligence. Some of the biggest models on the planet require data—huge amounts of it—processed regularly to refine and improve the operation of those models. That means soaking up data from wherever it may sit. In some cases, it would involve taking up the works of creators and churning them through their systems. There is, rightly, an objection to the way in which that may occur. If that occurs without remuneration, that is fundamentally wrong. It is theft. There should be a mechanism for the remuneration of authors and creators for their work if it's used to train an AI model.

The view of those developing the models is that that is too much to ask for, and that is a ridiculous proposition. The reality is these models have had huge amounts of money—billions of dollars—poured into their development, and they will ultimately create a reward, a profit, for the developers of those models. From my point of view, and certainly from the point of view of many in the public, the work of authors, creators and publishers should be properly, fairly remunerated. This is a commercial transaction, and the hard work put together by creatives should be paid for. It's important to note some of the creators may not even be aware their works are being utilised to train AI models, which is something that we should be alert to.

The Copyright Act in this country, in its current form, does not yet contain provisions specifically addressing AI generated content. Understandably, artists and creatives want the government and the parliament to ensure that they are properly remunerated and protected from some of the changes that have been sought by US tech to dilute the Copyright Act in this country to allow them to access those works. That should not happen. It is not right. It is not fair that that should occur. Big Tech should also not be allowed to get away with the argument that allowing access to copyright material or, in particular, remunerating it will stifle economic growth in innovation. This is wrong. It is a red herring of an argument. The models that are being developed by those firms pay every step of the way. The people that run those companies are very well remunerated. The employees that help develop those models are remunerated as well, both in salary and in shares. They will become wealthy people. They have got their slice. They cannot say that they should do better by taking money off of authors, creatives and publishers and arguing that, by being forced to pay, innovation will be stifled. As I said, this is a completely false argument and should not be allowed to stand. They should pay their way and also recognise that, if compensation is good for them, it is good for authors as well.

The other thing is that AI generated content can be produced at a speed and a scale that are not comparable to the output of human creatives. Genuine creative work will often require significant human time investment, and that should be recognised in any future deal. This is but one argument—this is a pinprick—that is now being enlivened as a result of the rapid uptake of Generative AI. Parliaments, governments, the world over are being challenged by the ways in which AI is starting to impose itself on societies. We cannot afford to have a hands-off approach to a technology that will touch every part of our lives. There should be a unified, clear set of guardrails that governs the way AI is used in societies. Anyone who thinks that the general public is permissive of the widespread use of AI is woefully mistaken. Australians are genuinely concerned about the impact of artificial intelligence. They do not believe it is a free-for-all. They do believe there should be guardrails.

Also, no-one believes that there is a choice between regulation and innovation, that they cannot exist together. As I often remark, anyone who takes a medicine at a time when they are ill puts great trust and faith in that medicine. They have not tested it themselves; they have hoped that somewhere along the line that medicine will be safe to take and use. That is because there has been a very thorough, strong, complete regulatory framework that has guided the development of that medicine. And yet we continue to have remarkable breakthroughs in medical sciences in spite of the fact that a heavy regulatory framework exists.

People are seriously concerned about what AI will do to them. In Australia, nearly 75 per cent of people believe that, even when they use AI, it still poses a threat. In the American context, polling has shown 77 per cent of Americans think AI is not a force for good. It means we have a responsibility as a parliament to be across this issue, to prepare the country for this issue and the threats that are posed and, in doing so, to not be framed as Luddites but do what we're meant to do for the Australian public, which is identify risk, mitigate risk, build confidence and get the most out of new technology when it delivers for us and, importantly—I end on this point—where the technology works for us, not the other way round. That is critical.

Louise Miller-Frost (Boothby, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Libraries are the beating hearts of our communities. They are a crucial education resource for children and families, particularly those from low socioeconomic backgrounds, who would otherwise not have access to such a wide range of reading. In this way, libraries are a vital component of our educational landscape. When children have free access to the shelves of a library, we know that they have improved rates of literacy, and who can really argue against free access to books? Who can really argue against children reading more? Something as simple as a library card can literally change a person's life. But behind the free access to knowledge, we are obligated to compensate those who produce this knowledge—writers, authors, publishers.

This debate seeks to replace the Public Lending Right Act 1985 and its associated scheme with the Public and Educational Lending Rights (Better Income for Authors) Bill 2026 in order to provide for a unified and modern legislative framework. In 1974, Prime Minister Gough Whitlam introduced a public lending scheme. His goal was to encourage broader reading in the Australian community and elevate Australian voices and stories all while ensuring that authors, publishers and illustrators were paid fairly and equitably because Australia has some of the best writers in the world, from Alexis Wright, one of our leading Indigenous voices, to JM Coetzee, an Australian Nobel Prize winner in literature.

Because PM Whitlam was committed to education for all as a way of bettering our country and providing opportunity for all, the public lending scheme also meant that everyone in our Australian community would have access. Since 1974, incremental changes have been made in the way of updating the scheme to adapt to contemporary technological changes and innovations, and we now have ebooks, audiobooks and other such digital platforms.

A national survey of Australian book authors in 2022 found the average annual income of an Australian author was around $18,200, ranging from about $5,000 for poets up to about $28,000 for youth authors. This is well below minimum wage. This is not to mention the growing prominence of self-publishing, and even when an author chooses to go down this route, which is precarious to begin with, their success does not necessarily, and in fact often doesn't, translate into financial security or stability. This isn't good enough. Full-time writers often rely on their royalties as their only source of income, which, given the average income of $18,200, means that for every writer who is making a good living from their writing, there are many, many others making very little.

If we expect—and I think we all expect this—a thriving literary culture in Australia, we need to be able to financially support those who are at the very heart of it. The reality is that free books reduce direct sales, affecting all those in the chain of production, including publishers, booksellers, agents and translators. Lending rights ensure that authors are paid where their works are freely available in public and educational libraries. In 2024-25, more than 17,000 payments were made to creators and publishers because of the scheme, amounting to more than $28 million. In other words, it is this scheme that has allowed writers to thrive and good stories to be shared. It enables writers to be paid, as they should be, for their work, their ideas, their time and their IP.

This bill consolidates the Education Lending Rights and the Public Lending Rights into a single legislative framework. The Education Lending Rights Scheme is in fact not currently enshrined in legislation. It adopts many of the features and definitions of the existing legislation while taking into account changes to the way Australians today read. We will modernise and streamline lending rights governance and administration, including the creation of a new public and educational lending rights committee. An associated bill, the Public and Educational Lending Rights (Better Income for Authors) Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions Bill 2026, will ensure that the old and new schemes are cohesive and consistent.

This bill is part of the Albanese Labor government's national cultural policy, Revive. Revive seeks to not only support Australian writers and literature but protect this invaluable part of our national culture and heritage. Under Revive, we aim to modernise lending rights that reflect the rapid changes in the way we all read, changes that align, for example, with the developments in new digital formats like ebooks and audiobooks. Writers deserve to be compensated for their hard work and for the hours they spend whittling away in the creation of their stories, stories which speak to the times and will stand the test of time.

That is why the Albanese Labor government has also invested in Creative Australia, providing grants and funding for authors who are in the midst of creating a new work. This funding is essential. It gives writers the breathing space to write, time to write and financial stability. It recognises the value of what they do and the value of their creativity, and it enables them to continue their work writing Australian stories, Australian nonfiction, Australian voices. In fact, in the 2026-27 budget, Creative Australia will receive an increase of $14.7 million in funding, from $311.8 million to 326.5 million.

At its core, this legislation is about recognising the value of Australian stories and the people who create them. One thing I've noticed from visiting schools across Boothby is that books still matter deeply to young people. You see it in the questions that they ask, you see it in the way they connect stories to their own lives and communities, and you see it when the conversations about books turn into bigger conversations about fairness, identity, belonging and the kind of country we want to be. When I visit schools to talk about democracy and civic participation, I'm always struck by how closely literacy and engagement are connected. Students who read widely are often the students asking thoughtful questions, challenging ideas and thinking critically about the world around them. That matters, particularly at a time when misinformation and division can spread so quickly online. Reading is not just about literacy; it's also about participation. It's about helping young people understand different perspectives, think critically and engage confidently in public life. These skills do not appear by accident; they are built through education, through conversation, through stories and, yes, through reading.

Many Australians would remember growing up with the work of Mem Fox, a resident of my electorate of Boothby. Her books have been part of childhoods across Australia for generations. They've been read at bedtime, in classrooms and in libraries right across the country. That is the extraordinary thing about books. A story written by one person can become part of millions of people's lives. It can shape childhood memories and a lifelong love of reading. I recently attended the launch of the book God is an Apricot by Boothby author Robert Moore, set around the Shepherds Hill Recreation Park in my electorate. What struck me was how familiar it was—the suburbs, the atmosphere, the small details of everyday life in communities like ours. Not every important story is set in New York or London, and not every important Australian story is set in Sydney or Melbourne—or Canberra. Some are set in suburbs like ours, around beaches, sporting clubs, parks, schools and shopping strips people in Boothby would recognise immediately, and these stories matter too.

Over the past few years, I've also had the opportunity to attend local book launches and literary events celebrating South Australian authors and storytellers, including Lainie Anderson, Mercedes Mercier, Jennifer Mackenzie Dunbar and Daniel O'Neill. I particularly want to acknowledge Becky Lucas and Mike Lucas from Shakespeare's Bookshop in Blackwood and Charmaine Power from Mostly Books in Mitcham, two independent booksellers in my electorate who have built a genuine community around books and reading and who support our local authors—because books are not just about publishing; they're also about community. Places like the Mitcham library, the Tiwu Kumangka library, the Marion library and the Holdfast Bay Community Centre library are not simply places to borrow books; they are places where children discover reading, where older Australians stay connected to their communities and where people can access stories, learning, information and ideas, regardless of their background or income. Libraries are one of the best things we have. They are welcoming places, equalising places, places of learning and connection.

In a past life, when I worked in local government, I had libraries in my portfolio, and they were always some of the most popular services that we provided to the local community. Libraries are places to come together, places to find out information, places to learn, places to find an amusing or entertaining book and places to just sit and relax. This legislation is not about choosing between libraries and authors. We need both. Public libraries are an essential part of community life and should remain free and accessible. But creators should not be invisible within that system. This bill streamlines and modernises Australia's public and educational lending rights framework to ensure authors are fairly recognised when their works are held in libraries and educational institutions. It's a practical legislation, but it reflects something much bigger about what we value as a country, because governments make choices about what matters. These bills say Australian stories matter, literacy matters, creative work matters, and art work—writing—is real work and should be paid.

People often see the finished product sitting on a shelf, but they do not see the years of work behind it—the research, the editing, the rewriting and the uncertainty. For many Australian writers, writing is done alongside other jobs, family responsibilities and everyday life. Very few authors become wealthy from publishing books, but their contribution to our cultural and educational life is enormous. If we want future generations of Australian writers to continue telling Australian stories, we need systems that make creative work more sustainable. Australian stories help preserve Australian identity. They reflect our humour, our landscapes, our history and the everyday experiences that shape our communities across the country. They help young people see themselves reflected in the stories they read, and they help all of us better understand one another.

Books do not appear by accident; they exist because someone decided a story was worth telling. Libraries enrich our communities and authors enrich our national life. This legislation recognises that both matter. If we value Australian stories, we must also value the Australians who write them. I commend the bills to the House.

Question agreed to.

Bill read a second time.

Message from the Governor-General recommending appropriation announced.

Ordered that this bill be reported to the House without amendment.