Government report recommends publishers print more work onshore

A report commissioned by the Book Industry Strategy Group has made a list of recommendations to aid Australia’s struggling book industry.

At the launch of the report, Minister Kim Carr acknowledged that a:

“convergence of negative influences is affecting book sales in Australia.”

The report proposes:
• The establishment of a reform council
• The abolition of GST on books bought in Australia
• The review of postage costs
• The reduction of territorial copyright timeframes
• The encouragement of local business by awarding government grants
The report also says that local publishers have been importing books due to the high Australian dollar and this has left printing companies in a ‘potentially perilous state.’

Bill Healy, Printing Industry’s Association of Australia (PIAA) chief executive said the report was;

“the blueprint to help the survival of an important part of the printing industry. The future of eBooks in one way looks threatening because they are rising so quickly, but what it also shows is that there is going to be a place for books in our society, including printed books.”

Healy also found that the recommendation:

“to reduce the timeframe for retention of territorial copyright from 30 days for new books and 90 days for reprints to 14 days would mean that the faster turn-around times will encourage publishers to print more work onshore.”

Rather than publishers sending work offshore for printing, they will be encouraged to use local printing services in places like Welshpool or Springvale and repair Australia’s floundering book industry.