Australian government to introduce local content quota for streamers

The most popular subscription video on demand (SVOD) services operating in Australia will soon be obliged to invest in new local drama, documentary or children’s, arts or educational programming, the country’s Labor government announced today (November 4).

It is understood all services with more than one million subscriptions will need to invest either a minimum of 10% of the total they spend on programming for Australia or 7.5% of their Australian revenues.

It is not known when the quotas will be applied as the enabling legislation has not yet been introduced in Parliament.

Netflix was the first to enter the Australian market in 2015 and is known for producing ambitious Australian series, including Apple Cider Vinegar and Boy Swallows Universe.

In addition to Netflix, the streamers impacted by the new quotas will likely include the Australian-owned Stan, Disney+, Paramount+, and Amazon Prime Video, which recently backed the high-profile series Narrow Road To The Deep North, directed by local filmmaker Justin Kurzel.

These five services – but not all the streamers operating in Australia – voluntarily report their expenditure on Australian programming to the Australian Communication and Media Authority (ACMA).

In financial year 2023/24, they spent a combined A$341.5m (US$221.7m) on Australian programming. Of that amount, A$201.6m (US$130.8m) went to drama commissions and acquisitions.

ACMA estimated 69% of Australian adults were using subscription services as of the end of 2024.

“We have Australian content requirements on free-to-air television and pay television, but until now, there has been no guarantee that we could see our own stories on streaming services,” said communications minister Anika Wells and arts minister Tony Burke, in a joint statement.

The issue of quotas has been in play for at least five years in Australia. Many in the production sector lost hope when US president Donald Trump suggested he wanted to impose tariffs on all films produced “in foreign lands”.

Former prime minister Scott Morrison, from the Liberal National Coalition, slashed drama quotas on commercial free-to-air television during his term. There are no formal obligations to make local drama on the free-to-air public broadcasters, ABC and SBS.

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