Investment in feature films and television dramas made in Australia has tanked, according to the latest report by the government’s funding body for the screen production industry.
In the 2023-24 financial year, spending dropped by almost 30%, Screen Australia’s annual drama report released on Tuesday shows – 10% below a five-year average which included a massive slump in production in 2020 due to Covid-19.
Feature films and TV drama represent about 33% of all audio-visual production spend in Australia each year.
A drop in the high-budget end of production activity accounted for much of the decrease, with Screen Australia attributing this to global economic conditions and a shift in audience consumption.
Uncertainty over the federal government’s commitment to incentives designed to attract big Hollywood productions was also to blame, after a $540m fund ran dry four years ahead of schedule.
That uncertainty was resolved in last year’s budget when the Labor government almost doubled its location offset, allowing a 30% tax break on any production that spends more than $15m shooting in Australia.
Despite the 29% overall decline, Screen Australia’s chief executive, Deirdre Brennan, described the report’s findings as a “solid result” after “a three-year peak driven by Australia’s status as a COVID-safe filming destination, streaming growth and a number of high-budget theatrical features”.
In 2023-24 $1.7bn was spent on 169 Australian and international drama productions, compared with $2.4bn the previous year.
More than half of that $1.7bn was investment in film and television programs shot here but not Australian-specific in their content.
Spending on all Australian titles fell 18% in 2023-24 and dwindled from 120 titles to 99. Within this category, the most significant drop was in free-to-air drama, with spending down 32%.
And although global streaming platforms contributed the largest share of investment in television and video on demand drama, the Australian streaming platform Stan appeared to do the heavy lifting, contributing 12 titles to Australian screens last year, compared with four each from Netflix and Binge, and two each from Paramount+ and Amazon Prime.
In total, the government provided $878m to the screen industry through direct funding and incentives in 2023-24.
Less than a 10th of that investment – $85.46m – went to Screen Australia, which last year supported less than one in three of the direct funding applications it received for scripted content.
“We understand how competitive funding is,” Brennan said.
“In an environment where international financing is also increasingly harder to source, we need to pull together as an industry to ensure the sustainability of the sector.
“Despite these challenges, we’re optimistic about the future and confident that there will be an uplift in production in the year ahead.”
Brennan conceded that children’s television, which dropped in expenditure from $81m to $58m in the last financial year, continued to face significant pressure and remained reliant on government support.
Locally made children’s content on commercial television all but disappeared after the Coalition government abandoned the quota system in 2020.
The arts minister, Tony Burke, is on leave. A departmental spokesperson said the government was aware that the production of Australian children’s screen content had declined significantly since then.
As a result the government had announced $14.5m over four years in the 2024-25 budget to support development and production of Australian children’s screen content, to be delivered to children’s producers through the Australia Children’s Television Foundation.
Last week the Australian Communication and Media Authority released research that showed a continued shift away from traditional live TV services, with more Australians using streaming services for video and audio content.
The Labor government had promised to have local content quotas for streaming platforms passed in parliament by 1 July but the legislation stalled after doubts arose about Australia’s compliance with its free trade agreement with the US, where most of the big streaming platforms are based.
Local content quotas for streaming platforms are now not expected to be revisited until after next year’s federal election.
The chief executive of Screen Producers Australia, Matthew Deaner, said the Australian government needed to “stand up for Australians” against global interests.
“No government can overlook a decline and conclude that all is well in the Australian screen industry,” he said.
“These figures lay bare what is an ongoing letdown for Australians from international streaming businesses that have disrupted the existing screen ecosystem.
“[Streamers have] received so much from governments in production subsidies and the Australian public by way of subscriptions, but continue to return so little to Australians by way of an appropriate level of Australian content on these platforms.”
The government spokesperson said the Labor government remained committed to introducing Australian screen content requirements on streaming platforms.
“We are determined to get the consultation right and are taking time to hear views on how best to support ongoing investment in, and production of, Australian stories,” they said.
