Mako: Island of Secrets, Jonathan M. Shiff Productions
The risk
Following heavy lobbying from broadcasters, minimum safeguards for Australian children’s television content on commercial free-to-air television were repealed in 2020.
Simultaneously, the government has started but not concluded, a discussion on transitioning those safeguards onto new streaming platforms, leaving Australia with no minimum requirements for local content made specially for children on any media platform.
Official data releases show sharp declines in children’s content following the removal of regulation on television, and also shows streaming services are not voluntarily creating and showing this content in a meaningful way.
If this continues, Australian children won’t see children like themselves and their friends on screen and they won’t grow up learning about our nation on screen.
Government’s MEDIA Reform GREEN Paper
Over a dozen guilds and associations representing Australia's writers, producers, actors, directors, crews and creatives recently presented a collective, forward-looking vision for Australian content in a submission to the Government’s Media Reform Green Paper.
The group has proposed that streaming services be required to spend 20% of locally sourced revenues on commissioning new Australian content, with a proportion of that required to be spent on new Australian children’s content, to ensure that Aussie children have access to their stories and voices on the screens they are using.
For a background discussion of the issues addressed in the paper, you can view Screen Producers Australia’s Policy Briefing on Facebook.
Dumbotz, Beyond Entertainment
Hardball, Northern Pictures
The Way Forward
Recent data shows the removal of minimum safeguards on commercial free-to-air television has been disastrous for local children’s content, with sharp declines recorded. We have also seen voluntary spending on children’s content on streaming services decline year on year.
This data makes it clear that some form of protection is required for this content.
We urgently need the Government to finish the job it has started, and require streaming services to invest a minimum proportion of their earnings back into local Australian content, including children’s content. We also need a rethink of the complete removal of rules for commercial free-to-air television.
Without this action, the cultural and educational value of local children’s content could be lost to a generation of Australians.
Drop Dead Weird, Ambience Entertainment
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