News Limited is taking control of newspaper deliveries in Australia under a new scheme being trialled in Brisbane’s southside.

The pilot scheme sees 56 newsagent delivery rounds replaced by just three specialist distributors, with News Limited billing readers direct. Existing delivery arrangements are being cancelled, with newsagents and others invited to tender for one of the distribution contracts.

Instead of some agents delivering as few as 200 copies, the new model operates with territories of about 10,000 deliveries of News publications a day.

The company says reorganisation of newspaper distribution system is part of a strategy to grow print circulation. The T2020 model will create “long-term, sustainable and mutual success” for all newspaper stakeholders according to News Limited.

“Many of today’s newspaper delivery territories were established decades ago and we have a set-up that isn’t working as well as it could for any of us,” News Ltd executive director of commercial and operations Jerry Harris says in a video to newsagents.

News says it found that sub-agents such as convenience stores were out of stock 20 to 30 per cent of the time, and this was contributing to the decline of print newspaper sales.

The system is trialled in Brisbane this month with the current 56 distribution runs consolidated into three. Territory maps for Queensland, NSW, the ACT and Victoria will then be released “early next year’, with Western Australia, the Northern Territory and Tasmania to follow.

Retail and distribution are being “delinked” into separate contracts, and newsagents who want to distribute newspapers need to reapply. News says 150 Queensland newsagents have already chosen to get out of distribution.

The Australian Newsagents’ Federation and state associations have requested meetings with the Federal Minister for Small Business and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to ensure newsagents are offered “reasonable opportunities”.

ANF chief executive Alfonso Maccioni said the new system would have wide-reaching implications for newsagents. “Change in our channel is inevitable,” he says in an email to members. “Our challenge is to ensure this change is handled in a controlled and collaborative way, which empowers our members.”