Landmark bill establishes local content obligations on streamers in Australia

Minister Tony Burke at an SPA lobbying event

Long-anticipated legislation that imposes a local content obligation on streamers in Australia has been passed by the country’s government.

Heralded as a landmark move that will boost the production sector and creative industries, the reforms establish a national framework for investment in local production and new guidelines for streaming platforms.

Tony Burke, minister for the arts, said: “We should never underestimate how important it is for Australians to see themselves on screen. We have Australian content requirements on free-to-air television and pay television, but until now, there has been no guarantee that we could see our own stories on streaming services.”

Streamers with over one million subscribers have been given two options for calculating their investment obligations. They can opt to invest 10% of their total programming expenditure or 7.5% of their Australian revenues from subscriptions, advertising and other sources in new local content.

Compliance with reporting, production and investment obligations will be overseen by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). The streamers will also be subject to significant fines for non-compliance.

The passing of the new rules is a victory for the Australian screen sector and its long-game lobbying efforts driven by the Screen Producers Association (SPA) and the creative sector guilds. SPA CEO Matthew Deaner said the milestone bill represented more than a decade of work by the SPA and the wider industry to strengthen the pipeline of local content across all platforms.

“For more than 10 years, our members through SPA have worked both patiently and tirelessly together and with others parts of our industry to support the work needed to ensure that streaming platforms generating significant revenue from Australian subscribers also deliver a consistent and ongoing contribution to our industry and to our audiences, to ensure local Australian stories also find a place on their increasingly dominant services,” he said.

While some in the production sector were disappointed in the metrics negotiated for investment, having called for 20%, the industry has warmed to the opening of a new more level playing field and has largely agreed that the reforms open the door to further overhaul of media regulations.

The new laws follow nearly a decade of talks between the production sector and foreign-owned streamers, yet the introduction of legislation to parliament took all participants by surprise when it was announced this month.

“Reaching this point has required persistence, commitment and dedication. While this is a watershed moment, we hope it is also the beginning of a new dynamic phase of investment in Australian screen stories and that Australian audiences will be the beneficiaries of greater access to their own screen culture” Deaner said.

Claire Pullen, CEO of the Australian Writers’ Guild and Australian Writers’ Guild Authorship Collecting Society, said: “This is a watershed moment for Australia’s screen industry. This will give our members and the entire creative community more certainty around their careers, and the industry here at home.”

“Securing local content quotas is a significant step forward in levelling the playing field for streamers and broadcasters, and it acts as a strong reminder of what we’ve been continually told – that Australians want to see more Aussie content on their screens,” said Pullen.

Under the legislation, a full review of the effectiveness of the scheme will be undertaken by the department and the ACMA after four years. SVoDs will be compelled by the streaming requirement to report their total programme expenditure in Australia and other data to the ACMA.

When the rules come in, probably on January 1, the ACMA will police SVoDs operating in Australia and develop and publish guidelines to support implementation and guide content obligations. It will also create a framework for internal reporting and report to the government on compliance.