Jane Hume (Victoria, Liberal Party, Minister for Superannuation, Financial Services and the Digital Economy) Share this | Hansard source

The EM's section on standard offers states:

1.31   A responsible digital platform corporation may make a standard offer to a corporation that operates or controls a news business, by itself or together with other corporations. A news business corporation must be registered under the new Part IVBA to accept a standard offer. …

1.32   Regulations may be made that restrict standard offers to a class of registered news business corporations. If no regulations are made, the responsible digital platform corporation must make the standard offer to every registered news business for the offer to be recognised by the Code. …

1.33   A standard offer may be made that relates to one or more designated digital platform services of the responsible digital platform corporation in respect of remuneration or other matters. …

1.34   A registered news business corporation that becomes bound by a standard offer may receive the benefit of the general requirements. However, becoming bound by a standard offer may prevent a registered news business corporation from utilising the bargaining or arbitration divisions of the Code. …

In addition:

1.35   A responsible digital platform corporation may also make a standard offer relating to one or more non-designated digital platform services on terms that include that the registered news business corporation would not be able to utilise the Code for one or more designated digital platform services of that digital platform corporation. …

I should also add:

1.36   A standard offer will not exclude bargaining or arbitration if, before the agreement became binding, a registered news business corporation has notified the responsible digital platform corporation that it wishes to bargain. …

1.37   Standard offers must have a duration of two years in order to be valid under the relevant provisions of the Code. …

In addition to that there is a process for making a standard offer:

1.38   A responsible digital platform corporation may choose if and when it wishes to make a standard offer for a future two year period to registered news business corporations. …

1.39   A standard offer remains open for a period of 60 days unless otherwise prescribed in regulations. If a registered news business corporation wishes to be bound by the standard offer, it must accept the offer during the offer period.

1.40   At the end of the offer period, the offer becomes binding on the responsible digital platform corporation and all registered news business corporations who accepted the offer. …

1.41   During the offer period, a responsible digital platform corporation may withdraw the standard offer, in which case the offer will not be binding under the Code. A registered news business corporation may revoke any acceptance of the standard offer during the offer period. …

1.42   The content of the standard offer can be determined by the responsible digital platform corporation. The regulations may prescribe features that must be included in a standard offer in relation to remuneration.

1.43   For example, the regulations could set out that remuneration should be based on a percentage of the cost of producing covered news. A responsible digital platform corporation would then need to decide what percentage would be appropriate and include this as a term in any standard offer.

1.44   The standard offer provisions do not prevent the responsible digital platform corporation reaching agreements with registered or unregistered news businesses through other similar processes (for example, offers to certain kinds of news businesses, or offers subject to deadlines for acceptance).