Australian and Aotearoa New Zealand universities are currently negotiating with major academic publishers to renew agreements for reading access and open access publishing entitlements, known as Publish and Read Agreements, for 2026.

Led by the Council of Australasian University Librarians (CAUL) and an Open Access Negotiation Strategy Committee (COANSC) representing senior leaders across universities, the sector is taking a unified position in negotiations with Elsevier, Springer Nature, Wiley and Taylor & Francis.

Mindful of the need to address current inequalities and establish agreements based on sustainable and transparent costs, universities are striving for a better deal in areas such as subscription costs and article processing charges (APC) for publishing research.

While negotiations are ongoing, there is potential that agreements may not be reached with every publisher. This is not without precedent, with many libraries and library consortia having successfully discontinued large publisher deals to obtain better value for money and favourable conditions for open access publishing. A notable example is Project DEAL, representing 200 institutions in Germany, which was without an agreement with Elsevier for five years before signing a favourable transformative agreement in September 2023.

Waranara Library will keep you informed of developments in this space, with active planning to manage any potential scenarios underway.

More information can be found in the joint media statement from CAUL, UA and UNZ, or contact Belinda Tiffen, University Librarian at belinda.tiffen@mq.edu.au