2025

October

The State Library of New South Wales held the Mumbrella Publish Conference. This annual event saw publishers and other professionals address current industry challenges and ways to transform the publishing community. This was the first time the event was held since 2022. It was an important conference in order to discuss the impacts of generative AI during this time, and how it can be utilised in publishing operations without creating copyright issues. During this conference, The Local Project won Publication of the Year and Publishing Company of the Year.

November

Melbourne University Publishing shut down Meanjin (now reopened), Australia’s second-oldest literary journal for financial reasons. As a result, editors were made redundant. Writers and authors across Australia condemned this, also backing that the ‘journal famously catapulted the careers of Australian writers, platforming local work onto the international stage.’

December

The University of Melbourne hosted the 30th Annual Australasian Association of Writing Programs Conference with the theme ‘Movement and Stasis.’ This conference allows writers to work using creative and professional writing practices, including both in research and in teaching. Academics and teachers worked with this theme and described it as including ‘notions of physical, social, political, communal or artistic movement,’ combined with ‘ambiguities and entanglements of production.’ This event saw more than 150 presentations, allowing Australia’s publishing industry to continue to see growth and build upon providing further education to those in the industry.

2026

January

The Council of Australasian University Librarians, Universities Australia, and Universities New Zealand negotiated an agreement on open access by Taylor and Francis (a major international academic publisher). This agreement allows academic research in Australia and New Zealand to be free for the public, without pushing further fees onto the researchers. With this new-found open access, Taylor and Francis are limiting efforts of misinformation by increasing access to evidence. This agreement also permits the non-commercial use of licensed Taylor and Francis content through generative AI technologies, allowing individuals to summarise said research and encourage in-class discussions.

February

The Australian Communications and Media Authority registered the Commercial Radio Code of Practice 2026. Radio broadcasters must now disclose to their audience whenever a synthetic voice or generative AI is hosting a regularly scheduled program. This pushes for generative AI transparency in audio publishing, aiming to protect consumer trust against unannounced generative AI content. This new code also ensures that radio hosts give warnings regarding specific content during certain hours prior to and after school. This is said to ‘allow audiences to make more informed decisions about their listening habits.’

March

The Australian Government began developing a new National Cultural Policy to alter the creative and cultural sector of the government. Between March 2026 and May 2026, Australians were invited to share their views towards the next National Cultural Policy. This policy suggestion followed a five-year plan called ‘Revive: a place for every story, a story for every place,’ which began in 2023. This new policy was pushed to address gaps and ‘provide a clear framework to support’ a culture which is built on five pillars: First Nations First; A Place for Every Story; Centrality of the Artist; Strong Cultural Infrastructure; and Engaging the Audience.

April

Following the Copyright Amendment, Australia created an orphan works scheme and facilitated online learning. The Attorney General’s portfolio describes an orphan work as ‘copyrighted material where an owner is unknown or unlocatable.’ This new bill allows Australians to access ‘orphaned’ material, whether creative, historical or educational which in the past would have been in the archives of cultural institutions.

May

The 2026 Federal Budget allocated a $14.7 million increase to Creative Australia. Creative Australia defines themselves as ‘the Australian Government’s principal arts investment and advisory body. We invest in and champion Australian creativity.’ The Federal Budget ensured ongoing, long-term funding rollouts for Writing Australia—the federal literary body tasked with boosting local authors’ careers and independent publishing viability.

June

The Miles Franklin Award, trustee of Perpetual Wealth, announced their shortlist. This ‘Literary Award is presented each year for the novel of the highest literary merit that presents Australian Life in any of its phases.’ Stella Miles Franklin ‘created this award with the aim of advancing, improving and bettering Australian literature.’

July

The Australian Government’s National Cultural Policy, Revive, launched grants adding up to over $7 million up to this inaugural year. These grants included the Writers’ Festival Author Travel Fund that was administered by the Australian Publishers association in order to assist regional events that are struggling. The Australian Publishing and Promotion Fund was also launched under this grant.

August

The Prime Minister’s Literary Awards Shortlist was announced, defined as ‘the richest literary prize in the nation, with six categories: fiction, non-fiction, young adult literature, children’s literature, poetry and Australian history.’ This award provides a total prize pool of $600,000 and allows for national exposure to anyone on the shortlist, and the different categories allow for a diverse range of writers to be eligible.

September

Major publishing house Hachette Australia acquired Smith Street Books and are now reshaping the Australian publishing landscape by absorbing the independent publisher into one of the nation’s largest commercial publishing houses. Hachette has recently worked on Letterwing, where they are keeping all their Australian pieces together under one imprint, their acquisition of Smith Street Books complementing this.