Screen Producers Australia (SPA) welcomed the release of the Interim Report of the Senate
Environment and Communications References Committee Inquiry into Australia’s
National Cultural Policy and the recommendation that the Australian Government prioritise
the introduction of its legislative reforms for local content requirements for streaming services,
to redress the power imbalance between global streaming companies and local screen
producers and artists.
“As we draw nearer to the publicly announced start date of 1 July 2024 for this long-awaited
and critical regulation, the industry is becoming increasingly concerned that legislation has not
yet been put forward,” said SPA CEO Matthew Deaner.
“As SPA told the Senate Committee last month, while we’re waiting, conditions for Australian
screen businesses and consequently their workforce are deteriorating due to a noticeable
freezing in commissioning, which is creating a lot of anxiety and uncertainty. There’s a growing
sense of crisis in the local industry without this reform being in place.
“We are deeply concerned that US-based streaming businesses are exerting political pressure
on the Australian government by weaponising the Australia-US Free Trade Agreement behind
the scenes. The heavy involvement of DFAT in this policy development, which was confirmed
in the Senate hearing on 16 April 2024, and a media report in The Australian newspaper in
February points to the AUSFTA as one of the likely causes of the delay.
Independent legal advice sought by SPA and provided to the Government has found no legal
obstacle to regulation due to the AUSFTA, irrespective of the model adopted. In the same
Senate hearing, the Office of the Arts confirmed that all the different models that have been
put to the industry to date meet all the legal requirements of the AUSFTA.
“Australians should be alarmed at claims that the Australia-US free trade agreement could
now be being deployed to attempt to constrict the Australian Government from introducing
laws to ensure audiences have access to Australian stories on powerful digital streaming
platforms like Disney+, Netflix, and Prime Video as was promised in the National Cultural
Policy Revive.
“The Australian Government must continue to and always act in the best interests of Australian
audiences and our industry and bring forward robust legislation as a matter of urgency,” said
Deaner.
Senate Hansard public hearing and extract on the AUSFTA, 16 April 2024 HERE.
