After dragging it out for years, there is finally a bill with local content quotas being for streaming services in front of the parliament. A group of actors and creatives came to parliament last week for a final push, warning that the Australian industry wouldn’t survive without intervention. Anika Wells announced there would be a bill coming which will mandate that services with one than one million Australian subscribers will need to invest at least 10 per cent of their total expenditure for Australia – or 7.5% of their revenue on new local drama, children’s, documentary, arts and educational programs.

Sarah Hanson-Young said the Greens will look at the bill before making a decision on whether to pass it or not:

The Greens have long campaigned for local content quotas on streaming platforms to support Australian stories on our screen. Big tech companies like Netflix and Amazon who make massive profits from Australians should be required to have Australian content and give something back to the Australian economy.

A country that invests in its community and democracy, invests in its own cultural assets and story tellers.

We will look carefully at the detail of the bill and reserve our position until we know it is strong enough to ensure a strong future for our screen industry, including children’s content.

Australians deserve to see themselves and their communities reflected on their screens. Telling our own stories helps us makes sense of who we are here at home and around the world.  

Generations of Australians grew up on a diet of Australian shows like Playschool, Round the Twist, and Bluey. The next generation of Aussie kids deserve better than American junk.”