Australia’s News Media Bargaining Code prompted digital platforms to reach commercial agreements to support the production of news. But as the first cycle of agreements concluded and Meta threatened to withdraw news from Facebook in Australia, there was a need to explore new mechanisms to support the production of news. 

This report examines two alternative approaches: 

• measures to fund financial sustainability of news through industry levies or similar measures.
• provisions to ensure continued presence and accessibility for news content or services such as 'must-carry', 'must-be-discoverable' or 'must-not-deprioritise'. 

The report sets out a series of elements that could be considered as part of a package of reforms embracing both of these elements to support media sustainability. It examines comparable local and international regulatory approaches which may provide a model for how to address issues facing Australian news. It considers, in turn:

1. Policy context: The current landscape and problems to be solved, including recent reviews of the news media sector and issues identified with current regulation.
2. Financial sustainability of news media in the digital environment: local and international approaches to industry sustainability, with a focus on levies.
3. Visibility and discoverability of news on digital platforms: local and international approaches to maintaining the presence of news and trusted information on digital platforms.
4. Where to from here: take-outs from local and international experience, and elements that might be part of a future regulatory model.

The paper includes analysis and tables summarising some key design elements from those precedents. Its purpose is not to advocate for any particular regulatory model, but to consider aspects which could be viable in the Australian context.