News Media Assistance Program

News Media Assistance Program

The News Media Assistance Program (News MAP) sets out a framework and measures to support public interest journalism and media diversity in Australia—recognising these are critical to a healthy democracy, social cohesion and informed citizens.

News MAP Policy Framework

Informed by public consultation, the Australian Government released the News MAP Policy Framework in December 2024. The framework guides evidence-based and targeted government support that addresses ongoing pressures in the news sector, while balancing the need to maintain the sector's independence. It outlines the key policy objectives of ensuring access, diversity, press freedom, quality, citizen engagement and representation in Australian news.

News MAP Measures

The government is investing in a package of measures to preserve local news, and support innovation and resilience for news organisations, including:

  • $99.1 million in grants for the news sector.
  • $33 million over 3 years from 2025–26 to support the financial sustainability of the Australian Associated Press.
  • a mandated minimum commitment of $3.0 million per year for 2 years from 2025-26 for regional newspaper advertising across the total Commonwealth media advertising spend.
  • $10.5 million over 4 years from 2023-24 to the Australian Communications and Media Authority to implement the Media Diversity Measurement Framework.
  • development of Australia's first National Media Literacy Strategy over the next 3 years.

Journalism Assistance Fund

The Government announced and launched the Journalism Assistance Fund (JAF) on 21 November 2025. As part of News MAP, the JAF is investing $67.6 million to support the sustainability of Australian news publishers by providing a proportion of the wages for journalists producing core news content that is distributed digitally.

Under the JAF, successful grantees are receiving $39,000 for each eligible full-time-equivalent journalist they employ over the grant period, from 2025-26 to 2027-2028.

The JAF opened for applications on 21 November 2025 and closed on 19 December 2025 due to the program being fully subscribed. Grant Opportunity Guidelines were made available at business.gov.au/JAF.

All applications have now been assessed, and 185 were found successful. All successful grantees are published on grants.gov.au.

The grants supported over 2000 journalists across 93 regional, 23 culturally and linguistically diverse, 22 suburban and 2 First Nations news publishers creating news content distributed online.

News Innovation Fund

On 22 April 2026, the Government launched the News Innovation Fund (NIF) to help Australian newsrooms to innovate and adapt to the evolving media landscape.

The NIF supports news producers to undertake activities that help them to expand their reach, develop new or diversified revenue streams to boost sustainability, and build their organisational capability.

This could include establishing subscription models or newsletters to grow their audience, purchasing new equipment for content production, or engaging external support services such as web publishers to boost revenue – with grants from $10,000 to $9 million available.

The NIF is currently receiving new applications. More details and the Grant Opportunity guidelines are available at https://business.gov.au/grants-and-programs/news-innovation-fund

News Media Relief Program

In 2024-25, the News Media Relief Program provided over $12 million to eligible regional, independent suburban, multicultural and First Nations news publishers creating news content distributed online.

The grants supported more than 1,000 journalists across 98 regional, 22 suburban, 3 First Nations and 24 multicultural media organisations.

The program delivered critical support to local and community news outlets that play a vital role in keeping Australians up to date with the matters and events that impact them—strengthening the health and diversity of the Australian media sector.

National Media Literacy Strategy

As part of News MAP, the Government has committed to developing Australia's first National Media Literacy Strategy.

The Strategy will establish the key skills and competencies Australians need to better equip themselves to critically engage with news and media. A three-year development timeframe will ensure a robust government led co-design process with the media literacy research and education sectors, as well as communities. The Strategy is expected to be completed in 2028.

ACMA Media Diversity Measurement Framework

As part of News MAP, the government announced $10.5 million for the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to implement its Media Diversity Measurement Framework, which monitors the state of the Australian news market and measures the levels of diversity across print, radio, TV and online news media landscape.

In March 2025, the ACMA published the first report. This ongoing series will provide an opportunity to examine and update the measurement Framework and identify new sources of data and research, giving us a more comprehensive picture of news media diversity in Australia over time.