Malarndirri McCarthy (NT, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Indigenous Australians) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That these bills be now read a second time.

I seek leave to have the second reading speeches incorporated in Hansard.

Leave granted.

The speeches read as follows—

COMMUNICATIONS LEGISLATION AMENDMENT (AUSTRALIAN CONTENT REQUIREMENT FOR SUBSCRIPTION VIDEO ON DEMAND (STREAMING) SERVICES) BILL 2025

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 for 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 the 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 well-being 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.

Maj or 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 Australian 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 Australian stories and to see their culture, language and values reflected on screen.

These local content requirements were updated in the 1990s to apply free-to-air and 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 has been an extraordinary amount of engagement with stakeholders also involving the Minister for Communications Anika

Wells, and before that by the now Attorney-General Michelle Rowland as well as 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 1 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 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. This global content can represent a large portion 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 have no requirement at all. If global content is 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 7.5 per cent of their Australian revenue.

The requirement uses the definition of Australian content set out in the Broadcasting Services (Australian Content and Children's Television) Standards 2020. This is the definition that is used for commercial free-to-air 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 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 this legislation, I must acknowledge the numerous stakeholders who have long advocated for an Australian content requirement on streaming platforms. The Screen Producers Association, the MEAA, all of the guilds as well as many people who don't work in the industry, but who have a connection to the screen through great Australian stories.

The path to this legislation has been long. The streamers hadn't arrived in Australia in 2013 when I was a new Arts Minister. I noticed you could log onto Apple iTunes and you could choose a movie—and come back half an hour—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 on Free to Air television wouldn't help. I wish we had acted then, we didn't have time before we lost office. 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.

VET STUDENT LOANS (MISCELLANEOUS MEASURES) BILL 2025

Today, I introduce the VET Student Loans (Miscellaneous Measures) Bill 2025.

The Bill ensures that VET Student Loans (VSL) providers were authorised to handle students' tax file numbers (TFNs) to administer the VET Student Loans program.

The VET Student Loans Act 2016 (VSL Act) governs both the eligibility criteria for students seeking a loan and the requirements that providers must meet, to participate in the program.

Students are required—under the VSL Act—to provide their tax file number (TFN) when submitting a loan application, as repayments are made through the tax system. The TFN is essential to ensure the student's loan application details align with their Australian Taxation Office account.

During a review of how VET Student Loans are administered, the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations identified that there was no clear role for VSL providers to handle tax file numbers under the VSL Act and stronger alignment between relevant IT systems and legislation was required.

We have taken action to fix this.

Since early 2025, the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations has implemented updates to the IT systems to mask VSL students' tax file numbers and automate the transfer of TFNs between the student interface and government systems. So now VSL providers no longer need to handle TFNs.

This Bill includes a retrospective measure to authorise VSL providers' past handling of student tax file numbers (TFNs) for the purpose of administering loan applications and VET Student Loans.

It also authorises the Department of Employment and Workplace Relations' previous disclosure of TFNs to providers for the same purpose.

The measure applies to all current and former VSL providers and their officers who handled TFNs from 1 January 2017 to 30 September 2025. It also extends to other relevant parties, including the Secretary of the Department, the Commissioner of Taxation, and Commonwealth officers.

By clarifying the basis for these past practices, the Bill ensures the VET Student Loans program remains both accessible to students and compliant—supporting confidence in the system and the delivery of quality vocational education.

Income-contingent loans for Vocational Education and Training (VET) students were first introduced in 2008, under the former VET FEE-HELP scheme.

That scheme operated under the Higher Education Support Act 2003, which allowed VET FEE-HELP and Higher Education Loan Program providers to handle students' tax file numbers (TFNs) for the purpose of administering loans.

In 2017, the VET FEE-HELP scheme was replaced by the VET Student Loans (VSL) program. While the VSL program operates under its own legislative framework—the VET Student Loans Act 2016—it continued to use the same IT systems platforms.

This Bill is important because VET plays a huge role in building the skilled workforce Australia needs—now and into the future.

The VET Student Loans program makes vocational education and training more accessible to Australians by providing opportunities for students to undertake a VET course—diploma level and above— and defer the payment of tuition fees through an income contingent loan.

The program helps to address skills shortages across critical industries including engineering, occupational licencing trades like plumbing, carpentry and electrical work, and training and assessment.

There is no change to the way students apply for a VET Student Loan using the Electronic Commonwealth Assistance Form (eCAF).

I confirm to the house that since the VSL program commenced in 2017, there have been no student complaints related to the handling of tax file numbers (TFNs) for the purposes of administering the program.

Ensuring VET Student Loans are accessible and administered with integrity is critical to helping Australians gain the skills and qualifications to build our future, strengthen our workforce, and support long-term national prosperity.

Further details of the measure in this Bill are set out in the explanatory memorandum.

I commend the Bill.

Debate adjourned.

Ordered that the bills be listed on the Notice Paper as separate orders of the day.