SYDNEY, Australia — More than three-and-a-half years after the siren sounded, the Australian government is activating local content quotas for popular streaming video on-demand platforms operating on these shores.
Confirmed Tuesday, Nov. 4, the new obligation will require those services with over 1 million domestic subscribers to invest 10% of total program expenditure here, or 7.5% of their total Australian revenue, to supporting local storytelling.
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Netflix, Disney, Amazon and other SVOD services will be compelled to comply by the legislation, which will be introduced to Parliament this week, the ABC reports.
Those quotas must pass that bar set by the Australian Content and Children’s Television Standard (ACCTS), meeting or exceeding the same requirements currently applied to commercial and subscription television services.
“We have Australian content requirements on free-to-air television and pay television, but until now, there has been no guarantee that we could see our own stories on streaming services,” minister for the arts Tony Burke remarked.
“Since their introduction in Australia, streaming services have created some extraordinary shows. This obligation will ensure that those stories — our stories — continue to be made.”
APRA AMCOS celebrated the announcement as an “incredible first step for Australia.” Whether the next step is a long-mooted content quotas for streaming music platforms, time will tell.
The Australian-made regulation, says Dean Ormston, CEO of APRA AMCOS, is a critical mechanism “within a global content market where extraordinary local stories and local music can be drowned out by content from major overseas markets.”
Critically, he adds, “the obligation includes requirements to spend on post-production in Australia, opening the door for Australian screen composers and local music to play a central role in telling our stories. This represents a significant new opportunity for Australia’s music creators.”
The Albanese government’s announcement follows the presentation last week of APRA AMCOS’s 2025 Screen Music Awards, and delivers on Canberra’s commitment in its national cultural policy, the five-year action plan dubbed Revive.
With its presentation in January 2023, the federal government mapped out a timeline for legislation that would enforce local content quotas on streaming platforms. “For video streaming,” federal minister of the arts Tony Burke said at the time, “the timeline is locked in.”
The new rules should’ve been implemented in 2024 but were delayed over concerns on how they might create a stumbling block for Australia’s trade agreement with the United States.
The champagne corks aren’t exactly flying, but the Australian creative community has cause to celebrate. The government’s commitment to investing in Australian storytelling comes on the heels of last week’s decision that there would be no exception for big tech in Australia’s copyright regime to allow for text and data mining.
“This announcement marks a landmark day for the Australian screen industry,” enthuses Screen Producers Australia CEO Matthew Deaner. “For too long, our local production sector has operated in an uneven environment where global streaming services could reap the benefits of doing business in Australia without contributing fairly to the creation of Australian stories.”
The commitment is “the result of years of advocacy,” he continues. “It recognizes that Australian stories matter, and that they deserve to be seen and heard on every platform.”