Australia hikes 2.5% tech levy for giants failing to strike local news deals

The higher levy targets major digital platforms, fail to reach agreements with news publishers, as the Australian government pushes for greater support of local journalism

The Australian government has finalized the framework for its updated News Bargaining Incentive, increasing its proposed penalty levy on major technology platforms from 2.25% to 2.5%.

Following earlier pushback, the levy will be calculated strictly from a tech company's digital advertising revenue in Australia rather than its total overarching business revenue.

Under the revised legislation, tech giants that fail to secure commercial agreements with local media outlets will face the financial penalty calculated specifically from their Australian digital advertising revenue, rather than overall gross business revenue.

As reported by Reuters, rules apply to search and social platforms operating in Australia with local annual revenues exceeding A$250 million (~$175.7 million).

Major digital players including Google, Meta, and TikTok remain core targets. Additionally, the government removed previous exemptions for professional networking sites, formally bringing LinkedIn under the scope of the legislation.

As per the new policy or mechanism, platforms can bypass or offset the tech levy percentage entirely by entering into direct commercial agreements with local publishers—with extra incentives built in to support regional, small-to-medium, and independent news operations.

Any direct levy funds collected from non-compliant platforms will be funnelled straight back into supporting domestic journalism through the national news payment scheme.

As informed, the proposed legislation is expected to be introduced in Australia’s Parliament when lawmakers will resume proceedings.