National

Pressured media sector boosted by broadcast tax cuts

May 12, 2026

News organisations secure extra funding — Several news organisations have received funding lifelines from the annual budget. -AAP Image

Australian media organisations including the nation's independent newswire will receive a government funding injection to safeguard against industry upheaval.

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Tuesday's federal budget included funding boosts to the ABC, SBS and Australian Associated Press, along with $6.4 million for planned adjustments to media regulations.

The funding will also provide support for structural changes to the media market.

The Albanese government will also suspend the commercial broadcasting tax for two years to provide financial relief for TV and radio stations.

The measure will save broadcasters $111.3 million over five years, according to the budget papers.

Ahead of the budget, the government outlined changes to the news bargaining incentive, which encouraged social media giants like Google and Meta to strike deals with media companies to use content on their platforms.

If deals are struck between the companies for content, social media platforms will only pay 1.5 per cent of revenue to the government, compared with a higher amount of 2.25 per cent if no deal is made.

Funding for the ABC and SBS is set to increase under the budget.

The government will spend $1.28 billion on ABC in 2026/27, meaning the national broadcaster will get an increase of $58.5 million from the previous financial year.

The funding will boost Indo-Pacific broadcasting, news and media diversity, and producing Australian drama and children's content.

However, salary and wages increases, as well as extra operating costs, will lead to a rise in expenses at the broadcaster, up $46.3 million on the year before.

SBS will also get $367 million for the next financial year, with $3 million over three years to extend a podcast series.

AAP will get a $15 million top up from the federal government to ensure its financial sustainability.

It brings the total federal funding for AAP for the 2026/27 financial year to $26 million.

AAP chief executive Emma Cowdroy said the additional funding would secure the newswire into the future.

"At a time when the news media industry around the world is in a perilous position, AAP's role in feeding high levels of factual, accurate, primary-source journalism into the information ecosystem is of critical importance," Ms Cowdroy said.