What Are Community Newspapers and How Do They Work?

Community newspapers are local publications — often run by not-for-profits and volunteers — that report on a specific town, suburb, or shire rather than a whole city or state. In Victoria, the Community Newspaper Association of Victoria (CNAV) is the peak body representing not-for-profit community newspapers across the state, working with members to build their capacity and standing so they can fulfil what CNAV describes as their vital role in communities. If you are thinking about starting, running, or advertising in one, the practical picture below covers how they differ from commercial press, what obligations come with publishing, and where support and recognition exist.

How community newspapers differ from commercial or metropolitan press

The distinction is mainly about ownership, scope, and purpose rather than format.

CNAV's own description places it as the peak body for not-for-profit community newspapers, which is the model most common in Victoria. That not-for-profit framing matters because it shapes how these papers raise money, who makes editorial decisions, and what obligations apply to them.

Who runs them and how the not-for-profit model works

Community newspapers in Victoria are frequently produced by committees, volunteers, and sometimes a small number of paid staff. Because they are not-for-profit, they tend to rely on a mix of:

• Local advertising
• Government advertising placements
• Grants and community support
• Membership or subscription contributions

The volunteer and committee structure is also why peak-body support matters. CNAV works with its members to enhance their capacity and standing — in practice, that means sharing information on publishing rules, advertising processes, and industry changes that individual volunteer-run papers may not have the resources to track on their own.

Publishing obligations you need to know

Two obligations come up repeatedly for Victorian community publishers, and both are documented in CNAV's notices.

Legal deposit

If you publish a work in Victoria — meaning you make material available to the public for sale, to registered members, or free of charge — you are required to send one copy to the Library within 60 days of publication. This applies to community newspapers and newsletters, not just books. The practical takeaway: build a copy-and-send step into your production schedule so you do not miss the 60-day window.

Authorised electoral advertisements

All electoral advertisements — not only during election periods — at Federal, State, and Local government levels must include the name and address of the person who authorised the advertisement. The address must be a full street address with suburb or locality. This is a common trip-up for volunteer-run papers that accept political advertising, because the requirement applies year-round, not just at election time.

Managing government advertising

CNAV has also flagged that the Victorian State Government appointed OmniMedia as its advertising agent, and that OmniMedia expressed interest in working with community newspapers but had difficulty managing timelines. If you want a share of government advertising revenue, the practical lesson is to be responsive and organised about deadlines — the agency is willing, but the process has been a bottleneck.

How peak bodies like CNAV support member papers

CNAV's stated role is to represent community newspapers across Victoria and to work actively with members to enhance their capacity and standing. For a volunteer-run paper, that translates into several concrete benefits:

• A single point of contact for industry-wide notices (legal deposit, electoral advertising, government advertising changes)
• Representation when government or agencies change how they deal with community press
• Shared recognition through awards and conferences
• Connections to the broader local news sector

CNAV also participates in wider sector work. Its president took part in the Australian Local News Resilience Project in 2024 and was invited to the News Futures: Media Policy Roundtable at the University of Canberra, which is a project of the university's News and Media Research Centre. That kind of participation is how community newspaper interests get raised in national media policy discussions.

Recognition and awards

CNAV runs an annual conference with award results, which gives member papers a way to benchmark and celebrate their work. The 2025 awards included categories such as:

• Best feature story — finalists included the Tallangatta Herald, Warrandyte Diary, and Ferntree Gully News; the winner was the Gisborne Gazette.
• Best editorial comment — finalists included Ferntree Gully News, Ballarat East Community Newsletter, and Manningham and Nillumbik Bulletin.

For a small paper, entering awards is a low-cost way to get recognition, motivate volunteers, and demonstrate quality to advertisers and grant-makers.

Where to go next

If you are starting or running a community newspaper in Victoria, the practical sequence is: confirm your not-for-profit structure, set up a legal deposit routine within the 60-day window, ensure every electoral advertisement carries a full authorising name and street address, and get in touch with CNAV to access member support and stay current on government advertising processes. CNAV also maintains an archive of news items and a list of useful links, including Our Community (a centre for not-for-profits and schools) and The Citizen (an online publication of the Centre for Advancing Journalism), which are useful starting points for resources and training.