Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the Minister for the Arts Tony Burke are on the path to regulating streaming services. Yesterday the government released Revive – Australia’s cultural policy for the next five years.
Buried deep in the document – around page 89 – were the details of the next steps in the process of regulating Australian content on streaming services.
There was much discussion about what might happen on Sunday ahead of the policy release. However, there is no decision yet on the amount of investment streaming platforms will have to make in Australian production. That is not far away though after the period of consultation ends.
In launching the document, Prime Minister Albanese said: “Revive will guide our plan to deliver a better future for our creative workers and organisations while expanding economic opportunities, supporting ethical marketplaces for creative workers, and providing more avenues to deepen and showcase our national identity.”
Minister Burke address the scope of the document: “It ensures the audience member, whether reading alone at home, gazing into a work at a gallery, seated in a theatre or cinema, or dancing in a packed mosh pit, can appreciate creativity which is distinctively Australian.” Or watching TV at home!
Growth of streaming sector
In referring to the changing viewing habits of consumers, Revive said:
There is an increasing consumer trend away from broadcast and subscription television services to online subscription content. In 2020–21, for the first time, Australians were more likely to have watched an online subscription service than live or recorded free-to-air television. The Australian subscription video-on-demand market grew nearly fifty per cent in 2021, with estimated total earnings exceeding $2.4 billion.
These new streaming platforms are producing some high-quality Australian content. However, unlike free-to-air broadcasting services and subscription television, these services have no requirements to make Australian content available on their platforms. The ready availability of mass content produced in other countries, particularly the United States, risks drowning out the voices of Australian storytellers.
The Government has committed to take the necessary action so that Australians continue to be able to see and hear quality home-grown content, regardless of which platform they are using. It is important that streaming services invest in key genres, including children’s content, scripted drama and documentaries.
Government’s content action plan
• Introduce requirements for Australian screen content on streaming platforms to ensure continued access to local stories and content in the third quarter of 2023 and to commence no later than 1 July 2024, with the Minister for the Arts and the Minister for Communications to undertake further consultation with industry in the first half of 2023 on the details of actions to be taken and implementation as part of the Commonwealth’s broader reforms to media legislation.
Security of funding for ABC & SBS
• Provide security of funding and independence for Australia’s national broadcasters, ABC and SBS, by delivering five-year funding terms, and reinstating indexation for ABC funding.
• Conduct a feasibility study to expand Double J’s reach, which could in turn increase the discoverability of Australian artists on radio at all stages of their careers.
• Increase support for community broadcasting to deliver local news, tell local stories, and provide a platform for diverse voices and Australian music.
Policy outcomes
The policy’s aim is summarised in the document:
• Revive will guide our plan to deliver a better future for our creative workers and organisations, while expanding economic opportunities, supporting ethical marketplaces for creative workers, and providing more avenues to deepen and showcase our national identity.
• [Revive] ensures the audience member, whether reading alone at home, gazing into a work at a gallery, seated in a theatre or cinema, or dancing in a packed mosh pit, can appreciate creativity which is distinctively Australian.
Regulating streaming: Pushing for 20%
Screen Producers Australia (SPA) has done much of the heavy lifting amongst the industry bodies pushing for Australian content regulation.
SPA has long advocated for a content obligation of 20% of major streaming platform revenue to be applied to Australian screen stories. This week the organisation noted this will return some of the income generated from Australian subscribers back to the content they want.
“There’s some critical detail now to be negotiated between industry and government that will affect whether this policy delivers what is needed for Australian screen culture and industry,” said SPA chief executive Matthew Deaner ahead of a media round of interviews he conducted on Monday.
“This includes what is counted as ‘Australian content’ and whether that definition meets the objectives of the new Australian National Cultural Policy and public expectations.
“Getting this right is no simple matter. There’s a world of cultural difference between Pirates of the Caribbean and The Drovers Wife, both of which were supported by Australian taxpayers,” said Deaner.
Top image: Missy Higgins at the Revive policy launch with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese