The federal government will not introduce the News Bargaining Incentive (NBI) legislation until after parliament's winter recess.
The draft legislation is designed to push digital platforms into commercial deals with Australian publishers, with a 2.25% levy imposed on their Australian revenues if no deal is reached.
SBS told AdNews the timing of the NBI's implementation was critical.
"The need for the News Bargaining Incentive is critical as existing agreements under the News Media Bargaining Code expire," said an SBS spokesperson.
"SBS would like to see the government introduce legislation as soon as practicable."
A Southern Cross Media Group spokesperson told AdNews the delay was disappointing, “but we are encouraged by the government's continued support of it.”
"The government is simply asking the digital platforms to pay for news content created by other companies. Quality news is vital for a diversity of voices in a healthy democracy.
“If digital platforms don't pay for the use of the news content they profit from, then journalism becomes unsustainable."
Rebecca Costello, managing director at Guardian Australia, said the delay reflected a failure to prioritise the legislation.
"There is a clear need for trusted, independent journalism in Australia, so it is disappointing that the government has not prioritised the NBI legislation," said Costello.
"Further delay beyond the winter break will prolong uncertainty for publishers and weaken momentum behind a framework designed to support the long-term sustainability and diversity of public interest journalism.
"More broadly, the failure of large technology platforms to fairly compensate publishers for the value they derive from journalism remains a significant structural challenge to the sustainability of public interest news in Australia.
"High-quality journalism is expensive to produce, yet it creates substantial value across digital platforms and digital ecosystems,” she said.
Matt Stanton, Nine Entertainment CEO, said he was "hopeful" deals could be struck at the negotiating table.
"As one of Australia's largest content producers and major investor in premium local journalism, Nine has repeatedly said our strong preference is for technology companies to simply come to the bargaining table and reach deals for the fair use of our commercial property," he said.
As reported by The Australian, Michael Miller, executive chairman at News Corp Australia, described the delay as "deeply disappointing."
"Every delay hits our industry hard. I've said previously, 2026 was shaping as a make-or-break year, and after waiting 2½ years since Meta walked away, further inactivity risks more belt tightening and fewer Australian stories — inevitably weakening our nation," said Miller.
Scott Purcell, co-founder at Man of Many, told AdNews the delay would quietly favour the platforms.
"Every month the legislation sits in limbo is a month the status quo holds, and the status quo is not working for independent publishers," said Purcell.
"Realistically, we expect very few deals, if any, will actually be struck under the News Bargaining Incentive. Meta has already shown it will walk rather than negotiate, and the incentive, as drafted, does little to change that.
"Google also does not want to set a precedent globally, so will likely pay the levy instead of striking deals with individual publishers. That makes the government's distribution methodology the part that genuinely matters now."
Purcell said the distribution methodology would determine whether independent publishers benefited at all.
"A clear cap on individual deals is essential, otherwise the big players take the payouts while the independents doing original journalism are left with nothing.
"It also has to be tied to actual journalism, with real transparency. The original code's deals were confidential, so secret that the government's own 2022 Treasury review said it was never given the details and could not verify where the money went.
"Former ACCC chair Rod Sims estimated around $200 million a year flowed to publishers, yet the newsrooms kept shrinking. Nine confirmed 85 publishing redundancies in 2024 and Seven flagged up to 150 roles as Meta walked away.
"In the same period News Corp, which authorised a US$1 billion share buyback the year the code took effect, spent more than US$400 million repurchasing its own shares. Money meant to sustain journalism cannot be allowed to quietly become buybacks and dividends.
"This time, funding must carry public reporting obligations: how many deals, their total value, who received them, and proof that it reached reporters.
"There is also a glaring loophole. The levy targets Google and Meta, but generative AI companies can train on every article we publish and dodge the bill entirely. AI needs to be brought inside the definition of search before this is legislated.”
Country Press Australia president, Damian Morgan, told AdNews the company was disappointed in the delay.
"Country Press Australia is disappointed the News Bargaining Incentive legislation has been delayed, given the urgency of the issue for local, regional and rural journalism," said Morgan.
"CPA understands the legislation is now likely to be introduced when Parliament returns in August, and we strongly urge the Government to do so. We equally urge the Opposition and crossbenchers to support and pass the legislation as a matter of urgency.
"The NBI is an important reform because local and regional publishers are providing essential place-based journalism in communities across Australia, often in markets where there is no other meaningful source of professional local news.
"The legislation should now proceed urgently, but it must retain the safeguards that ensure support reaches genuine local, regional, rural and independent news publishers producing professional public interest journalism."
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