Screen Producers Australia CEO Matt Deaner issued a lengthy statement following a proposed Streaming Services Reporting and Investment Scheme announcement from the government.
Screen Producers Australia (SPA) today welcomed the announcement of a range of measures addressing Australian content on streaming services and the national broadcasters, but noted that certain critical issues will require further consideration as consultation continues.
SPA CEO Matt Deaner said:
“We welcome Minister Fletcher’s announcement of a proposed Streaming Services Reporting and Investment Scheme, which has at its heart a recognition that Australians should be able to see and hear their stories and culture on the services they are now using so pervasively.
“With regulation having been wound back so significantly on commercial free-to-air television, it is both necessary and urgent for there to be an ongoing contribution to local stories from the streaming sector to ensure the continued fulfilment of public policy objectives around the availability of Australian content and the sustainability of the local sector.
“We are particularly pleased that the proposal will focus on new Australian commissions, which is a progression from earlier proposals which would have captured acquisitions and re-licensing. New Australian content is where the public policy upside is for both audiences and industry and this is a welcome development.
“We are also supportive of what we understand is a move away from initial proposals which would have seen some streaming services exempt from a new regulatory scheme based on whether they had ownership links with licensed broadcasters. Australians deserve to see their stories on the screens they are using regardless of the behind-the-scenes corporate structures of the services they subscribe to.
“We are also pleased to see a proposal for greater transparency around Australian content levels on our national broadcasters, who play such a crucial role in the local content ecosystem.
“We will, however, be carefully considering the Discussion Paper released by the Minister today and we welcome the ongoing commitment to consultation, as there are a range of complex issues which need further consideration and refinement.
“Of critical importance is the rate of contribution expected from, or required of streaming services. We are concerned that the proposed threshold for the first step in the regulatory scheme of 5% of gross local revenues would be an opportunity missed and would not create a meaningful amount of local content for audiences, or investment and job-creation in industry.
“A 5% requirement is also a very modest return on the almost $2 billion in revenue the streaming services enjoy from operating in Australia, sitting at about $100m annually. This also is an incredibly small proportion (less than 0.3%) of the $37 billion the major international streaming platforms reportedly have to spend on content worldwide, and a low requirement here could see Australia miss out in global investment strategies as platforms invest in territories with more competitive regulatory settings. SPA along with the Australian production industry have called for a minimum 20% investment requirement, which is based on international precedent and which would create an additional 300 hours of Australian content and 10,000 additional jobs.
“We note there is some proposed flexibility in the rate to be applied to SVOD services to be designated under the second step of the regulatory scheme, however, we are concerned that this might create further uncertainty.
“We are also extremely concerned to ensure there are robust safeguards for Australian children’s content, and other at risk genres. Following deregulation in the commercial free-to-air television sector, there are now no regulated safeguards which ensure Australian children have access to content made especially for them, and we have seen in recent official data releases that the results of deregulation have been extremely damaging to audiences and the local sector. This is true also for Australian adult drama.
“We will also continue to seek the Government’s engagement on the critical issue of bargaining conditions between mostly global streaming platforms on the one hand, and mostly SME producer businesses on the other. A safety net of minimum negotiating standards is crucial to ensuring the economic upside from deals is shared fairly and to create the conditions for a sustainable local industry.
“We look forward to a continued constructive engagement with the Government on ensuring a future-proof set of safeguards for Aussie content.”
