Mr Tony Burke (Watson, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this bill be now read a second time.

Today the Albanese Labor government is legislating for streaming services to have guaranteed Australian content.

This bill amends the Broadcasting Services Act 1992 and subordinate legislation to allow for an Australian screen content requirement on subscription video-on-demand (streaming) services.

In the National Cultural Policy 'Revive: a place for every story, a story of every place', the Australian government committed to introduce requirements for Australian screen content on streaming services to ensure continued access to local stories and content.

We should never underestimate how important it is for Australians to see ourselves on screen. It helps us to better understand ourselves and our neighbours and allows world to see us.

Australian stories play an important role in shaping Australia's national identity, fostering social inclusion and encouraging cultural expression. They are our greatest cultural asset. They help build a sense of community, collective wellbeing and a shared identity. They reflect and define who we are as a nation and make us recognisable on the international stage.

Australian stories help make sense of our past, define ourselves in the present and promote our people, our creativity and our country to the world. They bring people together and enable the exchange of experiences, ideas and perspectives.

All Australians benefit when we are represented by and can hear our voices in the stories brought to the big and small screen.

Major structural changes in audience viewing habits have meant that contemporary Australian audiences are increasingly engaging with content across multiple platforms. Public broadcasters, commercial broadcasters, cable and streaming are all part of Australia's television landscape now and into the future.

In relation to the public broadcasters, the ABC Charter includes the requirement for the ABC to broadcast programs that contribute to Australia's sense of national identity, inform and entertain and reflect the cultural diversity of the community.

The SBS Charter states that the SBS's principal function is to provide multilingual and multicultural broadcasting and digital media services that inform, educate and entertain all Australians, and in doing so, reflect Australia's multicultural society.

Australian content quotas for commercial television were first introduced in the 1960s to ensure that Australians had access to stories and to see their culture, language and values reflected on screen.

These local content requirements were updated in the 1990s to apply to free­to-air and to other subscription television broadcasters, requiring broadcasters to commission a minimum level of Australian content every year. This is either based on hours, in the case of free-to-air commercial television broadcasters, or, in the case of other subscription broadcasters, a percentage of their total drama expenditure in Australia.

These requirements stabilise the market, and act as a safeguard for the Australian screen production sector.

But, unlike free-to-air broadcasting services and other subscription television services, streaming services have no requirements to make Australian content available on their platforms. The ready availability of content produced in other countries risks drowning out our own Australian stories. Without government intervention there is no guarantee that streaming services will produce and make Australian content available to Australian consumers.

As more Australians watch screen content through streaming services, the government's goal in introducing these requirements is to guarantee a minimum level of expenditure on new Australian content on these services. It will ensure that access to Australian content—and Australian stories—is guaranteed to Australians regardless of the platform on which they choose to view it.

Since the policy was endorsed in Australia's National Cultural Policy, Revive in 2023, there's been an extraordinary amount of engagement with stakeholders involving the Minister for Communications Anika Wells, and before that the now attorney-general Michelle Rowland as well as the arts envoy Susan Templeman.

The extensive and genuine consultation process has informed the development of this requirement. The views of stakeholders and the analysis undertaken throughout the consultation process has informed the development of the Australian screen content requirements being introduced today. Consultation took longer than we would have liked but we were determined to get this right.

The proposed requirement introduced today is consistent with Australia's international trade obligations.

The Australian screen content requirement will apply to streaming services operating in Australia with at least a million Australian subscribers.

The requirement is for streaming services to invest at least 10 per cent of their total program expenditure for Australia on eligible program formats in Australia and on new Australian programs.

Eligible program formats are drama, children's, documentary, arts and educational programs. Total program expenditure for the Australian market includes the cost of programs commissioned or acquired specifically for the Australian market, as well as programs which were made overseas and not specifically licensed for Australia, otherwise known as global content—referred to frequently as global licensing. This global content can represent a large proportion of streaming services' catalogues.

There are some streaming companies operating in Australia that only have global content. If global content wasn't included, and the requirement was based solely on a streaming service's total drama expenditure in Australia, then there is a risk that services could in fact end up with no requirement at all. If global content were to be excluded from any requirement, international streaming services could simply minimise their expenditure in Australia and avoid any obligation. Simply put, 10 per cent of nothing, would deliver nothing.

The requirement also includes a voluntary option for streaming services to acquit their requirements based on a calculation of 7½ per cent of their Australian revenue.

The requirement uses the definition of Australian content which is set out in the Broadcasting Services (Australian Content and Children's Television) Standards 2020. This is the definition that is already used for commercial free-to­air and other subscription television broadcasters. It is therefore the appropriate consistent definition.

Streaming services covered by the new requirements will report to the Australian Communications and Media Authority, which will administer the Australian screen content requirement.

Streaming services can acquit their obligation over a three-year period. This principle was put strongly to the government during consultation by the streaming services and reflects the lumpy nature of investment cycles in high quality programs.

There will also be a statutory review conducted four years after the commencement to make sure the requirement is operating effectively.

The Australian government committed to ensuring Australians have access to local stories wherever they choose to watch their screen content. This bill fulfils that commitment.

In introducing the legislation, I must acknowledge the numerous stakeholders who have long advocated for there to be an Australian content requirement on streaming platforms: the Screen Producers Association, present in the gallery at the moment; the media alliance, the MEAA; and all of the guilds as well as many people who don't, in fact, work in the industry at all, but who simply have a connection to the screen through watching great Australian stories.

The path to this legislation has been long. The streamers hadn't even arrived in Australia in 2013 when I was a new arts minister. I noticed at the time you can log onto Apple iTunes and choose a movie—and come back to your TV half an hour later—and it would be ready to watch. I said at the time it's not going to be long before we are watching the internet through our televisions. I knew then that the television quotas that we had available on free-to-air television weren't going to help. I wish Australia had acted then, we didn't have time before we lost office. But we are acting now.

Since their introduction in Australia, streaming services have created some extraordinary shows. In the last few years, many of them have produced great Australian content. A minority are yet to produce any. This legislation is not a criticism of the streaming businesses in Australia. It is an endorsement of Australian stories, a celebration of Australian creatives and a show of respect for the Australian audience.

This bill will guarantee Australians will have access to Australian stories, now and into the future—it will ensure that no matter which remote control you're holding, Australian stories will be at your fingertips.

Australians will see themselves, know each other and the world will meet us.

Debate adjourned.