The ABC has used its submission to the Federal Government's media reform green paper review to request an additional $90 million in funding, while at the same time joining SBS in dismissing content obligations as "unnecessary".
ABC managing director David Anderson reiterated his opposition to local content obligations for the broadcaster at Senate Estimates on Tuesday, describing it as a "breach of independence".
Four of the major SVOD providers - Amazon, Disney+, Netflix and Stan - spent more than $260 million collectively on Australian content in 2019-20, according to data from the ACMA.
The Australian Directors' Guild and Australian Writers' Guild have joined Screen Producers Australia in proposing that SVOD and AVOD services be required to spend 20 per cent of their Australian revenue on local content as part of their submissions to the Federal Government's media reform green paper.
Australia's leading children's producers are calling for a 20 per cent children's sub-quota to be placed on streaming platforms, based on an overall 20 per cent revenue-based local content requirement.
ABC managing director David Anderson has rejected the Federal Government's proposition public broadcasters be mandated to produce Australian content, as outlined in its recent green paper.
Both SPA and the ADG have identified the potential for a "production void" if there is a prolonged delay between the government's relaxation of local content quotas for commercial free-to-air broadcasters and any imposition of obligations on streamers.
Free TV Australia believes the proposals outlined in the Federal Government's media reform green paper will not meet the needs of viewers or the broadcast sector, but says there is "time to get this right".