New bill combines public and educational lending rights

The Australian Government has combined the Public Lending Rights (PLR) and Educational Lending Rights (ELR) schemes under a single act of legislation, replacing the Public Lending Right Act 1985.

The Public and Educational Lending Rights (Better Income for Authors) Bill 2026 was introduced into parliament in April and passed both houses on 14 May.

Member of Parliament Tom French, who spoke in support of the bill, said, “The bill brings the public lending right and educational lending right schemes together in a single, contemporary legislative framework. The public lending right has had a statutory basis for decades. The educational lending right has operated administratively since 2000. This bill brings them together under one roof.

“It also properly recognises digital formats – ebooks, audiobooks, platforms like Libby and Hoopla. That’s how people read now. A lending rights scheme that didn’t deal with digital borrowing would be a scheme looking backwards. This bill looks forward.

“And it establishes a unified committee with representation from authors, publishers, libraries and the public service – so the people affected by the scheme have a genuine role in advising on how it operates.”

French said, “The idea at the heart of it is simple: when Australian books are made freely available through public and educational libraries, the people who created and published those books should receive fair recognition and payment for their work.”

Category: Local news