Free TV Australia today welcomed the Albanese Government’s announcement that the suspension of the Commercial Broadcasting Tax (CBT) will be extended in the forthcoming Federal Budget for a further two years until 8 June 2028, delivering $111.3 million in savings for the commercial broadcasting sector.
The CBT, which costs the commercial television industry around $50 million every year, has placed an unsustainable burden on a sector that is central to Australia’s media landscape. The Government’s decision to extend the suspension, providing a 100% rebate of CBT liabilities for commercial broadcasters until 8 June 2028, is a meaningful and welcome acknowledgement of the financial challenges facing Free TV broadcasters and the critical public interest role they play in every Australian community.
Taken together with the Government’s commitment to implement the News Bargaining Incentive, the News Media Assistance Program, and a prominence framework to ensure Australians can easily access their free television services on connected TVs, today’s decision reflects a deep and genuine commitment from the Albanese Government to ensuring the sustainability of local media services into the future.
The extension of the CBT suspension provides crucial certainty to broadcasters during a period of declining advertising revenue, intensifying competition from global digital platforms, and significant cost pressures.
Free television is an essential service for all Australians, a trusted source of news, live sport, and local stories. Free TV broadcasters invest $1.6 billion every year in Australian content, more than any other media platform, and reach 19 million Australians every week, delivering 390 local news bulletins across the country. At a time when audiences are increasingly fragmented across global platforms that take far more from the Australian market than they put back, free, universally available television remains an important contributor to social cohesion in Australian life, the shared place where Australians come together around trusted news, national sporting moments, and the stories that reflect who we are.
