Explore our plan
- Strengthening media diversity
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From providing emergency information about bushfires and floods to asking the tough questions about government integrity, quality journalism is at the heart of a functioning democracy.
Australia has one of the most concentrated media markets in the world. We know that to have a healthy democracy, we need a healthy media - and ours is trending in the wrong direction.
The Greens will prioritise more substantial media diversity with a comprehensive plan.
The Greens' plan:
- Achieve greater accountability by establishing a Royal Commission into the Murdoch media monopoly and its influence on democracy.
- Strengthen media standards by creating a single media regulator with real enforcement powers.
- Ensure ethical ownership by legislating a ‘fit and proper person’ test for media proprietors.
- Protect journalism by introducing a Media Freedom Act to safeguard journalists and whistleblowers.
- Support public interest journalism by providing tax-deductible status to qualifying news organisations.
- Guarantee community-focused content by committing to five-year funding for community broadcasting.
- Protect our public broadcasters
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We must have strong broadcasters accessible to everyone to deliver public interest journalism and protect our democracy.
The ABC and SBS are cultural cornerstones of our national life, and they should be protected from both funding cuts and biased political attacks.
During natural disasters, people rely on the ABC as a primary source of information to keep them safe - it must be appropriately equipped to communicate crucial, lifesaving information to all.
The Greens' plan:
- Achieve sustainable public broadcasting by restoring all funding cuts made since 2014.
- Guarantee independence by legislating secure funding for the ABC and SBS.
- Ensure accessibility by preventing ABC iView and SBS On Demand from being put behind a paywall.
- Promote fairness across our public broadcasters by phasing out advertising on SBS and establishing non-partisan processes for appointments to the ABC’s board.
- Make the ABC the official host of leaders' debates during a federal election to ensure fair and balanced coverage accessible to all.
- Bridging the digital divide
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We need a 21st-century internet to support our future economy, jobs, education, health, and way of life.
Poor connections and unaffordable services are creating a digital divide for people on low incomes and in regional, rural and remote areas.
The Greens will drive investment to bridge the digital divide and ensure access for all.
The Greens' plan:
- Improve connectivity by re-establishing a $3 billion Communications Fund to support regional, rural, and remote areas.
- Ensure equal access by funding essential telecommunications programs to deliver affordable, high-quality services nationwide.
- Regulating Tech Giants
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For too long, social media giants have made their billionaire owners rich while failing to show any concern for the welfare and safety of the public.
Global tech giants operate in Australia and gain benefits from doing so, without adhering to many regulations or giving back to the communities from whom they take money and data
The Greens are working to make these companies pay their fair share back to the communities and make these platforms safer for everyone.
The Greens' plan:
- Achieve fairness by introducing a 3% digital services tax to ensure companies like X, Meta, Google and Amazon pay their fair share back to benefit Australian communities and consumers.
- Ensure safety by legislating a Duty of Care to make platforms accountable for protecting users and mitigating risks.
- Empower users by increasing transparency around algorithms and safeguarding data privacy.
More information on this policy initiative will be released soon.