Australian government condemned for letting ‘Netflix write the rules’

The Australian screen industry remains in a state of anxiety over promised regulatory remedies to ensure that streaming platforms invest and support local content.

Matthew Deaner

Despite the passing of legislation through Parliament last week, increasing  the Location Offset from 16.5% to 30%, the Australian government’s promised July 1 deadline to enshrine new legislation imposing a quota on streamers to invest in local content has been missed.

Screen Producers Australia chief Matthew Deaner has reiterated the industry’s disappointment and level of uncertainty.

“This delay is resulting in much anxiety and uncertainty for screen production businesses. Our members tell us that commissioning is largely on hold while we wait and this is of much concern. The sooner we end the ongoing uncertainty the better for our industry and Australian audiences. We are all keen to move forward with optimism and confidence about our future and to seize the opportunity to grow our industry,” Deaner said.

On the last day of Parliamentary sitting last week, before the winter break, Greens Senator Sarah Hanson Young called the government to question for avoiding the issues of streamer regulation and avoiding accountability for missing the July 1 deadline without clear explanation over the delay.

“We’ve missed that deadline. The government’s broken their promise. They’ve rolled over and cowered to the big streaming giants. They’re letting Netflix write the rules and instead what we have bundled up in a bill with all these other things that are not related to the film industry, a tax offset for Hollywood,” Senator Hanson Young said.

Hanson Young said that government was “failing dismally” in this regard.

“This government talks a big game on the arts, talks a big game on the creative industries, talks a big game on backing Australian stories, but they are failing dismally.”

Deaner said that over the past week, Australian producers have been asking for answers on where the industry now stands.

“Without a counterbalance in local works and robust commissioning, the changes that passed Parliament last week will mean that the Australian screen sector is on track to develop more as a service provider for Hollywood productions, who are encouraged here to take advantage of generous rebates, rather than grow our own local storytelling capabilities. Available data tells the same story.”

Deaner said that the Australian screen industry should always remain open to new entrants for diversity and stories from the grassroots of society.

“That’s why local must always be our first, second and third priority as an industry, government and society,” Deaner said.

Australia’s struggling commercial broadcasters have progressively diminished their investment in Australian drama and in particular children’s programs.

The recent QUT report, Australian Television Drama’s Uncertain Future: How Cultural Policy is Failing Australia, found that between 1999 and 2023:  local adult drama fell from 570 to 300 broadcast hours, and children’s drama more than halved, from 106 to 51 hours. This study also found that over the 10 years to 2023, funding for television from federal sources increased by an average of 15.6% each year, while the hours of Australian TV drama available fell by an annual average of 5.6%.