ACTF invests A$10m in Australian kids’ content, calls for regulatory update

Australian animated preschool show Kangaroo Beach

The Australian Children’s Television Foundation (ACTF) has called for a wide-ranging review of regulatory, funding and discoverability issues surrounding the development of children’s content.

The government-funded specialist producer and distributor of Australian children’s content has amplified calls to upgrade screen regulatory mechanisms to ensure that Australian youth audiences continue to find the range of eclectic Australian stories across all platforms they engage with.

Releasing its annual report, the ACTF revealed that it invested A$10m (US$6.4m) in production funding during the 2022/23 financial year, in addition to contributing around A$600,000 in the development of 20 new projects.

“The way we watch content is rapidly changing and parents and children are telling us they find it difficult to find Australian children’s content amongst all the offerings that are out there,” said ACTF chair Helen Silver.

“These are complex challenges, requiring us to evolve and respond to changing times. It is imperative that the support mechanisms for children’s screen content are updated, to ensure they are effectively delivering for the children’s audience.”

In the last year, ACTF supported the debut of five new projects – Barrumbi Kids, Crazy Fun Park, Kangaroo Beach Series 2, 100% Wolf Series 2 and The PM’s Daughter Series 2 – with three ACTF-supported programmes also going into production: Eddie’s Li’l Homies, Space Nova Series 2 and Little J & Big Cuz Series 4.

The producer has also financed five further programmes that will go into production in the new financial year: Windcatcher, Tales from Outer Suburbia, Whale Shark Jack, Runt and Kangaroo Beach Series 3.

ACTF’s international distribution team has had strong success in the last 12 months, reporting A$2,088,337 worth of international sales generated from 66 contracts to 28 territories including the UK, the US, Canada, New Zealand, Taiwan, Japan, Germany and Latin America.

Highlights include the sale of The Inbestigators to NHK Japan, More Than This to VRT Belgium, Crazy Fun Park to the BBC and Barrumbi Kids to First Nations Experience (FNX) in the US.