The Albanese Government supports a diverse and sustainable media sector. It is essential to informing local communities, particularly in relation to local, national and global events.

The Broadcasting Services Act 1992 sets out rules regarding the control and diversity of media ownership in Australia. These rules support a diverse media sector by limiting the number of media operations that can be controlled by a person in a licence area. The Australian Communications and Media Authority is responsible for administering these rules.

The Government has affirmed its clear and consistent position that a royal commission or judicial inquiry into media diversity isn’t the way forward for media policy. We need to be outcomes-focused in implementing the backlog of recommendations that already exist, including from multiple reviews and inquiries into the media and public interest journalism over the past decade.

The Government has committed to developing a News Media Assistance Program to secure the evidence base needed to inform longer term news media policy interventions and to develop measures to support public interest journalism and media diversity.