Local newspapers in rural and regional areas are integral to maintaining a diverse media landscape and a robust democracy, the communications minister says.
At an address to the National Press Club, Michelle Rowland said the government will intervene to revive the media sector and help create diversity in the industry.
"This is critical for democracy in some of these areas where often it is one local publication that is really carrying the weight of supporting that diversity," she said on Wednesday.
"We want to do everything we can as a government to enable (them) to thrive, but we need to do so in a measured way that is long-term as well."
Regional and rural papers have been in a prolonged state of decline since the start of the digital era.
A 2022 parliamentary report found publications have been bleeding revenue since companies began shifting their employment, real estate and vehicle advertisements online.
This has led large publishers, like Australian Community Media (ACM) and News Corp Australia to withdraw print publications from regional areas and forced smaller papers to go further to print their products, driving up costs and further endangering viability.
"We know with the challenges of digitisation and the rise of the platforms, that this has placed the sector under increasing stress," the minister said.
"It has been a long time that these experiences and pressures on regional and out-of-metropolitan publications have existed."
But government research has helped her department pinpoint the locations of existing and emerging news deserts - where communities do not have a publication.
Ms Rowland will soon announce the details of the government's News Media Assistance Program (News MAP), which is aimed at supporting localism and diversity in Australian media.
The government committed $4 million for its development in the 2022/23 budget.
It also helped assist some publications with cash flow, with the AAP newswire receiving $1.8 million in 2022/23 and $3.2 million in 2023/24.
