Better late than never: The government finally moves on streaming content quotas

Nobody is going to accuse the government of being precipitous when it comes to its communications industry policy.

Two-and-a-half years after announcing a content quota for the streaming companies, the government has … announced a content quota for the streaming companies.

The July 2024 launch date promised in Arts Minister Tony Burke’s Revive strategy is long gone, but later this week, possibly as early as tomorrow, we will finally see legislation tabled in Parliament.

Over the last half century, Australia’s screen production sector has been through a series of booms and busts. The Ozploitation era of the mid 1970s to mid 1980s – fuelled by (overly) generous tax breaks for filmmakers, which brought us giant hits like Crocodile Dundee and misses like giant crocodile movie Dark Age – gave way to a downturn, until the early years of streaming created a new TV production boom. That one stalled more than five years ago when the streamers slowed down and local drama stopped rating.