Overall gains in employment, significant growth in the digital games industry, and rising production costs for television drama have headlined the eighth Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Film, Television and Digital Games survey – the first since 2015/16.
Funded by Screen Australia as part of the agency’s research function, the 2021/22 survey was based on a sample of 1,252 businesses and included data covering film and video distribution businesses and film exhibition businesses for the first time.
According to the results, the screen industry employed about 55,000 people and contributed more than $6 billion in value added* to the Australian economy in 2021/22, the largest amount of any creative industry.
Of the 55,126 people employed in the industry during the period, the largest proportions were seen in film and video production (26,808) and exhibition (11,213), with the largest growth occurring among digital games developers, who saw a 203 per cent increase compared with 2015/16.
Outside of distribution and exhibition businesses, which were not included in the previous survey, total industry employment grew 37 per cent.
Screen Australia CEO Graeme Mason said the figures proved there were more opportunities than ever to seek a career in the industry.
“It’s really exciting to see employment opportunities and career pathways for our talented and skilled workforce are on the rise and that the billion-dollar digital games sector is booming,” he said.
Key contributors to the industry in 2021/22 included film and video production businesses, which overtook subscription broadcasters and channel providers to have the largest total income at $4.6 billion, representing a growth of 75 per cent since 2015/16. The data also indicated that film and video production businesses received significantly more post-production, digital and visual effects (PDV) services income compared to 2015/16 with $389 million, up 193 per cent.
At the same time, film and video businesses have also seen significant increases in expenses, which have grown 104 per cent since 2015/16 to $4.9 billion, driven largely by rising labour costs.
The next best were subscription broadcasters and channel providers, which included (SVOD) services, generating $4.4 billion and incurring $4.3 billion in total expenses in 2021–22.
The commercial free-to-air broadcasters didn’t fare as well with $3.7 billion of total income in 2021/22, a 5 per cent decline on 2015/16. However, total expenses in the area decreased by 12 per cent from 2015–16 to $3.1 billion in 2021/22, resulting in a 56 per cent increase in operating profit before tax.
In exhibition, businesses generated $1.4 billion, of which box office receipts accounted for $730.9 million, and incurred total expenses of $1.3 billion.
The biggest gains, however, were reserved for digital games development businesses, whose total income increased more than 300 per cent since 2015/16 to reach $459.3 million. Total expenses increased by 334 per cent to $375.4 million over the same period.
The results come as the Federal Government’s Digital Games Tax Offset (DGTO) passed through parliament this week, offering a 30 per cent refundable tax offset to eligible game developers that spend a minimum of $500,000 on qualifying Australian development expenditures. The industry is also set to benefit from $12 million over four years through the Revive National Cultural Policy.
In terms of production, the survey found that total hours of television produced increased by 1.7 per cent since 2015/16 to 88,986 hours in 2021/22, more than a quarter of which was first released on a digital platform.
While there was a 70 per cent increase in the amount of television drama hours broadcast since 2015/16, the genre also experienced the sharpest rise in production costs, which grew nearly 240 per cent to reach $1 billion. According to the ABS, this was influenced by production businesses using high-quality scripted shows to attract and retain viewers and subscribers in a competitive market.
Of the other genres, television documentaries experienced a 165 per cent increase in broadcast hours to go with a minimal increase of 29 per cent in production costs, while the number of hours for children’s programs decreased 71 per cent to 220 hours to go with an average cost per hour increase of 194 per cent to $94,700.
For non-television film and video production, there was growth in the number of feature films (133 per cent), film documentaries (46 per cent), short films (152 per cent), and short-form online content (60 per cent). The average cost per production declined 35 per cent for feature films, and 85 per cent for short films, while rising 5 per cent for film documentaries and 76 per cent for short-form online content.
Mason acknowledged there were challenges for the sector, such as increased global competition for subscription broadcasters, channel providers, and commercial free-to-air broadcasters, but was optimistic about the snapshot offered by the survey results.
“Our focus now is to use this data to make the most of these opportunities and drive change — ensuring that we are in the best position to strengthen the domestic industry and encourage more Australian stories on screens locally and globally,” he said.
“The screen industry continues to punch above its weight and we know its value both economically and culturally, however, more action will be needed to keep the momentum going, with these results informing decisions and collaborations across the industry.”
Find the full survey results here.
*Value-added measures business output, calculated as sales and service income, capital works, government funding, and changes in inventories, minus the cost of goods and services used in production.