The amount spent on scripted content in Australia in the last financial year - $2.34 billion across 213 titles - is only a smidgen down on the prior year's record high of $2.43 billion. Yet whereas 2021/22's result was driven by unseen levels of expenditure on local drama, 2022/23 was fuelled by an all-time high in foreign spend.
The production boom shows no sign of slowing down: More money is being spent on drama in Australia than ever before, and significantly, the majority of spend is occurring on local projects.
It's no secret that Australia experienced a significant production boom during the 2020-21 financial year, but Screen Australia has finally crunched the numbers to reveal a record $1.9 billion was spent on drama production across the period.
Some $1.17 billion was spent on drama production in Australia in the last financial year - the second highest year on record and more than 50 per cent up on the previous year - driven by all-time high expenditure on local content and significantly bolstered levels of foreign spend.
A record $718 million was spent on Australian feature films, TV dramas and online programs in 2017-18, up 7 per cent on the prior year, mostly due to a boom in co-productions.
The last financial year saw the amount spent on drama production in Australia crack $1 billion for the first time, thanks in part to record levels of foreign project spend and bolstered local feature film production.
Australian TV drama expenditure has reached a record high of $376 million.
Total screen drama production in Australia has increased a healthy 11 per cent from last year, raising the total spend to $837 million - the highest on record.