How Cultural Policies Can Help Australia's Book Industry

At the centre of Australia’s art and culture industries are stories. All of the stories we tell, we hear and we share are the beating heart of this country’s cultural identity - just as they have been for over 60,000 years. But, now more than ever, the book industries and the reading ecosystems they support are under serious threat. To guard against the pressures that the printing, publishing and reading systems of Australia face, coordinated national policy is needed. Not only will a new National Cultural Policy help strengthen the core of our economic book-related industries, but it will lift up any and all readers, writers, workers and thinkers.

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What is Australia’s National Cultural Policy?

On 30 January 2023, the Australian Government released a new National Cultural Policy: Revive: A place for every story, a story for every place. As part of a five-year plan that sought to renew and revive Australia’s arts, entertainment and cultural sectors, this National Cultural Policy focused on Australia’s creative workers, organisations and audiences to continue to thrive and grow. Ultimately, the National Cultural Policy was created in the hopes that Australia’s arts, culture and heritage could be re-positioned as central to Australia’s future, and in-turn honouring its history. 

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Under the Revive policy, five interconnected pillars provided a foundation of understanding of what the policy would and should deliver. These included First Nations First (recognising and respecting the crucial place of First Nations stories at the centre of Australia's arts and culture); A Place for Every Story (reflecting the breadth of our stories and the contribution of all Australians as the creators of culture.); Centrality of the Artist (supporting the artist as worker and celebrating artists as creators); Strong Cultural Infrastructure (providing support across the spectrum of institutions which sustain our arts, culture and heritage); Engaging the Audience (making sure our stories connect with people at home and abroad). Revive also included ten core principles to guide the Government’s actions and investments - you can find the details of all ten pillars here.

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But talk to anyone in any Australian arts or cultural industry - especially book printing and publishing - and they’ll tell you how much the cultural landscape has changed since those pillars were posited. Evolving technologies, changing audience habits, new markets and mediums, and differing economic pressures on the arts and culture industries means that a new National Cultural Policy is needed, as soon as possible. 

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Why Should Publishing Be Considered A Core Cultural Industry?

For publishing to function as a core cultural industry, Australia must invest in a reading nation. According to Australia Reads - Australia’s national body for reading - we’re currently in the midst of a global reading crisis. As a nation, we’re especially feeling the brunt of this crisis - 30 per cent of Australians didn’t read or listen to a book last year, one in three students can’t read proficiently, and 25 per cent of Australian kids don’t receive a bedtime story. These may sound like small downsides amidst a larger issue, but look a little closer and you’ll see that these rips are the crux of a near-broken cultural landscape. Reading isn’t just something we do for fun to pass the time - sharing stories is a necessity of survival. Reading is able to provide better education and employment opportunities, it reduces our stress and lessens our loneliness, it encourages democratic values and social connection to community, and it allows us to relate to one another on a human-to-human level. Those factors are all quite arguably incredibly important when it comes to a nation of cultural and artistic diversity.

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There is also a real economic downside to the drops in reading levels. Not only does less publishing and reading of Australian literature equate to less job opportunities in our domestic industries, but it also reportedly will cost our economy over $40 billion a year, according to Australia reads. With over 30,000 professionals working in Australia’s book industries - including authors, publishers, booksellers, librarians, educators, researchers and readers - a nation that doesn’t value its own necessity of storytelling consequently devalues those jobs and livelihoods. 

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At the core of our ability to tell stories is publishing. Publishing doesn’t just involve buying and selling stories, it also includes a fair amount of investing - specifically, investing in the development, production, marketing, distribution, licensing and discovery of Australian books. Branching off from the core industry of publishing is a plethora of other employment opportunities that are affected by the strain on the publishing ecosystem. Ultimately, publishing - along with all the other adjacent industries of the book and reading ecosystem - isn’t just a nice little extra that we should feel lucky to have in Australia; it’s a core cultural industry that shapes who we are as a nation. 

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How Could A New National Cultural Policy Change The Australian Book Industries?

When the Australian government released its last National Cultural Policy in 2023, the world was quite a different place. Global economies have changed, means of consuming content have evolved, costs associated with producing material (as well as the general cost of living) have sky-rocketed, and, arguably most alarmingly, artificial intelligence has become a point of serious concern.

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To put it simply, the book sector is asking the Australian government to consider these factors and more in order to help sustain a domestic book industry on the brink of collapse. According to the Australian Publishers Association, the barriers that publishers face when investing in new Australian content and ensuring Australian books are discovered include rising costs, a small domestic market, changing discovery channels, copyright and AI issues, and accessibility requirements. 

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But these barriers aren’t impossible to overcome. With a new National Cultural Policy, the Australian government can address the most urgent of the book industries’ concerns and provide support to the infrastructure of our reading, writing and publishing ecosystems. Submissions to the next National Cultural Policy can vary from person to person and organisation to organisation, but looking at the Australian Publishers Association’s submission, we can identify the ways in which the proposed new National Cultural Policy can help change the Australian book industries for the better.

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The targeted measures recommended to strengthen Australian publishing includes creating an Australian Book Fund that will help support new Australian works, First Nations publishing, culturally significant books, literary journals, promotion, discoverability and accessibility. They are also calling for increased support for Public Lending Right and Educational Lending Right, as well as creative industries offsets or equivalent incentives for book publishing, and investment in national book data, metadata, rights and supply-chain infrastructure. Another measure recommended is creating a dedicated Books Australia export and rights program, in addition to funding for accessible publishing and inclusive discoverability, and consent-based copyright and AI settings, licensing, fair payment, transparency and enforcement. The APA is also asking for a stronger role for Writing Australia, with major books-and-reading measures funded separately and at the scale required.

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Ultimately, these measures are proposed with the aim to support investment in Australian books, as well as author and illustrator income, publisher reinvestment, lawful licensing, accessibility, exports, education, democratic life and public debate. It’s hard to argue that the survival or degradation of any of these elements are inconsequential to Australia’s cultural identity.

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How To Make A Submission To The 2026 National Culture Policy Consultation

So, you want to make a submission to the new National Cultural Policy? Whether you work in Australia’s book industries, you participate in artistic and cultural communities, or you’re just as fired up to help shape a better future for Australia’s publishing ecosystem as we at FolioFox printing are, making a submission is the easiest and most helpful way to help bolster our national reading landscape’s future.

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Before you start crafting your submission, it’s helpful to take a look at what other organisations have proposed. The Australian Publishers Association’s submission is a great jumping off point, but you can also take a look at the Australian Booksellers Association’s submission or the submission from Australia Reads. Plus, Australia Reads has a helpful short submission that you can copy and edit to your liking, or you can also craft a submission with help from Books Create Australia’s template or Australian Publishers Association’s template. 

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It’s important to also have a look over the government’s public consultation paper before you get started writing, too. Once you’ve created your submission, all you need to do is head over to Australia’s National Cultural Policy’s online form and upload your submission statement or submission document (preferred document formats are .docx (Word) or .pdf).

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If you choose to write your submission directly into the online form, it only needs to be a short statement of up to 500 words. However, you’re also welcome to upload a longer document to the portal. The consultation closes at 11.59pm AEST on Sunday 24 May 2026, so it’s best to make a submission as soon as you can. And, finally, good luck! Here’s to a healthier future for Australian writing, reading, publishing and printing.

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To learn more about the book industry and how it intersects with publishing and printing in Melbourne, get in touch with our team at FolioFox today. We're here to help you navigate the evolving world of book printing with confidence.