Public and Educational Lending Rights (Better Income for Authors) Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions Act 2026

Public and Educational Lending Rights (Better Income for Authors) Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions Act 2026

No. 46, 2026

An Act to deal with consequential and transitional matters arising from the enactment of the Public and Educational Lending Rights (Better Income for Authors) Act 2026, and for related purposes

Contents

1 Short title

2 Commencement

3 Schedules

Schedule 1—Repeals

Public Lending Right Act 1985

Schedule 2—Application, saving and transitional provisions

Public and Educational Lending Rights (Better Income for Authors) Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions Act 2026

No. 46, 2026

An Act to deal with consequential and transitional matters arising from the enactment of the Public and Educational Lending Rights (Better Income for Authors) Act 2026, and for related purposes

[Assented to 20 May 2026]

The Parliament of Australia enacts:

1  Short title

  This Act is the Public and Educational Lending Rights (Better Income for Authors) Consequential Amendments and Transitional Provisions Act 2026.

2  Commencement

 (1) Each provision of this Act specified in column 1 of the table commences, or is taken to have commenced, in accordance with column 2 of the table. Any other statement in column 2 has effect according to its terms.

Note: This table relates only to the provisions of this Act as originally enacted. It will not be amended to deal with any later amendments of this Act.

 (2) Any information in column 3 of the table is not part of this Act. Information may be inserted in this column, or information in it may be edited, in any published version of this Act.

3  Schedules

  Legislation that is specified in a Schedule to this Act is amended or repealed as set out in the applicable items in the Schedule concerned, and any other item in a Schedule to this Act has effect according to its terms.

Schedule 1—Repeals

Public Lending Right Act 1985

1  The whole of the Act

Repeal the Act.

Schedule 2—Application, saving and transitional provisions

1  Definitions

In this Schedule:

new committee means the Public and Educational Lending Rights Committee established by section 10 of the Public and Educational Lending Rights (Better Income for Authors) Act 2026.

old committee means the Public Lending Right Committee established under section 7 of the Public Lending Right Act 1985.

old scheme means the Public Lending Right Scheme 2016 (as affected by any modification of that scheme).

2  Limited continued operation of the Public Lending Right Scheme

(1) The Public Lending Right Act 1985 and the old scheme, as in force immediately before the commencement of this item, continue in force on and after that commencement in relation to the following:

 (a) a person’s entitlement to a payment under the old scheme that arose before that commencement;

 (b) a decision (the initial decision) of the old committee made before that commencement in connection with a claim for a payment under the old scheme;

 (c) a person’s entitlement to a payment under the old scheme that arose on or after that commencement because of the following kind of decision:

 (i) a decision (the later decision) made by the old committee upon reconsideration of the initial decision;

 (ii) a decision made by the Administrative Review Tribunal or a court following the initial decision or later decision;

 (d) a payment made under the old scheme before, on or after that commencement.

(2) For the purposes of subitem (1), any function or power conferred on the old committee is taken, on and after that commencement, to be a function or power conferred on the new committee.

(3) Subject to subitem (4), a payment under the old scheme, as continued in force by subitem (1), must not be made after the third 30 June after the commencement of this item.

(4) Subitem (3) does not apply to a payment under the old scheme that is made after that third 30 June because of:

 (a) the operation of subsection 25(2) of the old scheme (about correcting underpayments); or

 (b) a decision of the Administrative Review Tribunal; or

 (c) an order of a court.

3  Transitioning members of the old committee to the new committee

(1) A person who was, immediately before the commencement of this item, holding office as a member of the old committee under the provision of the Public Lending Right Act 1985 specified in column 1 of an item in this table is taken, on and after that commencement, to:

 (a) have been appointed under section 14 of the new Act as a member of the new committee; and

 (b) hold office under the provision of the Public and Educational Lending Rights (Better Income for Authors) Act 2026 specified in column 2 of that item.

(2) The person is taken to hold office as a member of the new committee:

 (a) for the balance of the person’s term of appointment that remained immediately before the commencement of this item; and

 (b) on the same terms and conditions as applied to the person immediately before the commencement of this item.

(3) Subitem (2) does not prevent those terms and conditions being varied after the commencement of this item.

(4) A person who was, immediately before the commencement of this item, holding office as a member of the old committee under paragraph 9(1)(e) of the Public Lending Right Act 1985 is taken, on and after that commencement, to hold office under paragraph 13(e) of the Public and Educational Lending Rights (Better Income for Authors) Act 2026.

(5) A person who was, immediately before the commencement of this item, holding office as a member of the old committee under paragraph 9(1)(f) of the Public Lending Right Act 1985 is taken, on and after that commencement, to hold office under paragraph 13(f) of the Public and Educational Lending Rights (Better Income for Authors) Act 2026.

(6) Subitems (4) and (5) do not prevent the person ceasing to hold office after the commencement of this item.

4  Term of appointments of new committee members

A period for which a person held office as a member of the old committee before the commencement of this item counts towards the 9‑year period referred to in subsection 15(2) of the Public and Educational Lending Rights (Better Income for Authors) Act 2026.

5  Pending claims

a claim made under the old scheme before the commencement of this item for the making of a payment under the scheme, in relation to which the old committee has not made a decision before that commencement, is taken, on and after that commencement, to be a claim made under the scheme referred to in section 8 of the Public and Educational Lending Rights (Better Income for Authors) Act 2026.

6  Annual report

Section 19 of the Public Lending Right Act 1985, as in force immediately before the commencement of this item, continues to apply on and after that commencement in relation to the last financial year ending before that commencement.

7  Transitional rules

(1) The Minister may, by legislative instrument, make rules prescribing matters of a transitional nature (including prescribing any saving or application provisions) relating to the enactment of this Act and the Public and Educational Lending Rights (Better Income for Authors) Act 2026.

(2) To avoid doubt, the rules may not do the following:

 (a) create an offence or civil penalty;

 (b) provide powers of:

 (i) arrest or detention; or

 (ii) entry, search or seizure;

 (c) impose a tax;

 (d) set an amount to be appropriated from the Consolidated Revenue Fund under an appropriation in this Act;

 (e) directly amend the text of this Act.

(3) Items 2 to 6 do not limit the rules that may be made for the purposes of subitem (1).

[Minister’s second reading speech made in—

House of Representatives on 1 April 2026

Senate on 14 May 2026]