This could lead our beloved film and television industry to market failure and mean a return to the 1960s and 1970s,when less than 1 per cent of our content was locally made. A place where the nextShine,the nextWentworth,the nextHappy Feet,the nextOffspring,the nextUpright– all stories written by my guild’s members – aren’t made.
Australian show Firebite is streaming worldwide.Ian Routledge/AMC+
Our film and television industry is a vibrant one. We are as well-placed as anywhere in the world to make the kind of highly authored content seen in hits likeThe Sopranos orNCIS,and local iterations such asWakefield, Underbelly orFirebite,recently picked up by AMC and now streaming worldwide.
We have such great export and domestic product because of the legacy of our governments facilitating investment in our stories. We have a chance to adapt the best regulation already in place in Europe,but Communications Minister Paul Fletcher needs to choose the path to becoming a content powerhouse.
Recently,we saw another investment opportunity go by when the minister released a paper,calledStreaming Services Reporting and Investment Scheme. It doesn’t grapple with the new world of streaming on demand that Australians have embraced.
Under its proposal,some large streaming services such as Netflix,Amazon and Disney will be required to “report annually on their expenditure and provision of Australian content”. Should they fail to invest 5 per cent of their gross locally sourced revenue in Australian content,the minister may impose a formal investment requirement. It doesn’t guarantee a 5 per cent quota.
Australian drama Wentworth.Ben King
We want streaming services to take a percentage of the money they make from Australians,in one of the top 10 streaming markets in the world,and direct that Australian money to telling Australians stories and creating Australian jobs.
This happens in Europe and it should happen here,but the government is nowhere to be seen. It won’t regulate the multinational streamers,and it is relaxing regulation on local free-to-air networks too.
The 5 per cent figure was proposed in the 2020 media reform green paper and the industry was united in calling for a greater reinvestment rate. We argued the regulation of streamers needs to be brought in line with those of other countries,otherwise our local industry becomes uncompetitive and we lose jobs and weaken the sector,undermining 50 years of government investment that has produced works lauded around the world.
In late 2021,Mr Fletcher relaxed drama,documentary and kids’ content quotas on Seven,Nine and Ten. This led to a 50 per cent decrease in production,effectively halved the investment in Australian scripted drama,halved the number of hours of Australian drama on commercial TV and annihilated children’s content. Those are Aussie jobs gone.
Netflix is Australia’s most popular streaming service and is estimated to devote a mere 3.3 per cent of its catalogue to Australian content.
As well as ensuring free-to-air networks are making local content,our industry wants a 20 per cent rate of obligation for streaming services,delivering about 10,000 industry jobs at no cost to the taxpayer. Australians want to see more local stories,and want the streaming services they use to make it.
Just last year,the Australia Institute reported that 60 per cent of Australians supported a proposal for streaming services to invest 20 per cent of locally sourced revenue in producing Australian content. Instead,this government is giving international streaming services a free ride at our expense.
Service providers such as Netflix benefited enormously from the pandemic and enjoyed significant increases in subscriptions,in contrast to Australian broadcasters,whose revenues and employment levels have continued to fall.
Streamers may claim they can generate Australian content without the need for government intervention,but we have no guarantees they will do so in a way that ensures continued production activity,investment and jobs.
Netflix is Australia’s most popular streaming service and is estimated to devote a mere 3.3 per cent of its catalogue to Australian content,much of it a back catalogue that is years old. Some streamers reported no Aussie content at all. At a time when Netflix pays less than 1 per cent tax and the streaming market here is worth an estimated $3.6 billion,we are being asked to accept our industry might fail. That we should put people out of jobs,and that it’s inevitable we won’t see more Australian stories.
In Europe,where streamers face a 30 per cent quota,and Canada,where it sits at 25 per cent,the streaming business is booming. Both are alongside Australia in the top 10 markets for streamers. There’s no danger to the streamers’ business model in regulating them.
The streamers continue to produce top-quality content and share it around the world,so the question is:will our government ensure Australia can compete and act on this stage,or will we bet against our national stories and our jobs?
Claire Pullen is the executive director of the Australian Writers’ Guild.
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