Amid production shutdowns and job losses, the ADG, AWG, MEAA and SPA have penned a joint letter to the Federal Government to seek urgent support for the screen industry.
The Make it Australian campaign is heading back to Canberra for the first time since the federal election, restating its case for local content requirements to be placed on digital platforms such as Netflix and Amazon Prime.
If elected, Labor has promised to convene a taskforce to "conclude" the government's Australian and Children's Screen Content Review.
Industry guilds and the free-to-air broadcasters alike have expressed dismay over the Federal Government's move late last week to extend the Post, Digital and Visual (PDV) and Location Offsets to online platforms, arguing the government has missed an opportunity to introduce further policies that could benefit the local industry.
"In our competitive and underfunded arts sector, power relationships are ever present. To address power imbalances, major structural change is needed."
The Federal Government's proposed changes to the Producer Offset’s ‘Gallipoli’ clause would effectively limit the ability for Australian productions shooting offshore to use non-resident Australian actors, directors and crew, and therefore opportunities to raise international finance, industry bodies have argued.
Alliance seeks to improve mental health outcomes for those working across the entertainment industry
The recent parliamentary inquiry into the screen industry recommended that the Minister for Small Business consult with businesses to address mental health outcomes. That's a positive step forward for mental health charity Entertainment Assist, which recently developed the Australian Alliance for Wellness in Entertainment (AAWE).
In the wake of recent allegations of sexual harassment across both local and international screen sectors, Women in Film and Television (WIFT) NSW has joined forces with a range of industry bodies to deliver a free forum designed to address the issue and bring about change.