The News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code (the Code) aims to address bargaining power imbalances to ensure that digital platforms fairly remunerate news businesses for the content they generate, thereby helping to sustain public interest journalism in Australia.

This review considered it reasonable to conclude that the Code has been a success to date. Over 30 commercial agreements between digital platforms (Google and Meta) and a cross section of Australian news businesses have been struck, agreements that were highly unlikely to have been made without the Code.

The review made 5 recommendations for improving the operation of the Code in the future, including that:

• the government consider directing the ACCC to prepare periodic reports on extending the Code to other platforms
• the government consider the need for additional ACCC information gathering powers in relation to agreements between platforms and news businesses, in the context of its response to the ACCC’s recent proposed major digital platforms reforms, and
• the government consider commissioning another review of the Code after it has operated for 4 years.