Earlier this month, Screen Australia released its Screen Currency 2026 report, with comprehensive data detailing the trends and challenges impacting Australia’s screen industry and its creative workers.
The primary findings were that Australian screen content is valued considerably by audiences, but challenges for discovery mean that it’s not being consumed as often as respondents would like.
Screen Australia staff recently expanded on these findings in a public Q&A session, discussing how they investigated this hurdle directly, and elaborating on how it would reshape the organisation’s goals and support in future.
The session showed that while Screen Australia remains committed to supporting the Australian screen industry and its growth, it must learn from this report and and consider how it can best provide impactful support. Heading into the future, the renewed goal of the agency is to boost the cultural relevancy of Australia’s screen industry, as well as its commercial sustainability.
Screen Australia on Screen Currency – quick links
Screen Australia’s understanding of the local screen industry
As shared by Adrian Coates, Director of Strategy and Insights at Screen Australia, one of the biggest challenges facing the local screen industry is that ‘support is high, but consumption is not’.
Analysis suggests that many people who watch entertainment for leisure will only watch Australian content when it’s ‘in their path’ and while they value its educational and transformative potential, ease of access is one of the most important factors in whether they actually view that content or not.
‘Discoverability is now as important as creation,’ Coates said. ‘We have to rebuild the connection between the audience and the content.’
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Screen Australia’s focus is now on what support can be offered, and how existing, strong foundations can be leveraged to better serve audiences and build a more sustainable industry overall.
To that end, the agency is also looking to better understand Australia’s position in the global market, which was discussed during the Q&A as a ‘major’ growth area.
Overseas, awareness of Australian content was described as high thanks to heavy-hitting IP like Bluey and even MasterChef, which helps to provide a positive impression of Australia.
Likewise, Australian games are also helping to cement the country’s reputation for developing high-quality entertainment, with games including Big Walk and Pro Jank Footy called out as making a splash in a competitive global market.
Per Coates, the country has a games sector that’s ‘growing fast’ and has ‘really strong foundations’ as well as ‘world-class talent and international appeal’.
Recent releases are being analysed as building points for a brighter future.
What’s next for Screen Australia
As shared by Screen Australia CEO Deirdre Brennan, the importance of the Screen Currency 2026 report was that it did not gloss over current challenges facing the screen industry, and instead took a data-led approach to understanding its workings.
These findings made clear that the majority of those working in Australia’s screen industry are part of small businesses, and that sustainability is one of the most enduring challenges even among established creatives.
Brennan also outlined a ‘generational divide’ in viewing habits that will likely change existing approaches to developing and releasing screen media.
To address this so-called ‘chasm’, and the separation between support and engagement, Screen Australia has come up with two pillars which will be addressed in future action plans developed by the organisation. These pillars are ‘business models’ and ‘patterns within audiences’.
Rachel Perkins, Screen Australia’s Director of First Nations Strategy, said, ‘We are facing great upheaval at the momen. This is the progression, having Screen Currency in place.’
Spokespeople described the organisation as ‘continually’ looking at how to ‘break glass ceilings’ when it comes to the ambitions of the screen media it supports. The organisation was described as devoted to developing authentic, strong stories for audiences in a highly competitive environment, but acknowledgement was also made that Screen Australia must now reckon with how viewing habits have changed, and what sustainability means.
As Brennan said, the organisation’s approach to change is now about ‘cultural specificity’ but with a ‘commercial outlook.’
‘Who we are is important, and we shouldn’t turn away from that,’ she said.
Two action pillars to support future strategy
The first new pillar outlined by Screen Australia comes down to business models. As shared by speakers during the Q&A, many of the small businesses that make up Australia’s screen industry are focused solely on survival. Brennan explained that margins for creating new screen content are very tight, and it’s hard for businesses to invest in themselves in the long-term.
Screen Australia will now look to investigate ‘targeted’ growth areas in this regard, she said, and ask questions about how businesses can be better supported in their overarching goals.
The changing patterns of audience behaviour will also define the organisation’s goals in future. Screen Australia has become increasingly aware that the way that audiences find and engage with content is changing, as are the ways in which creatives are telling their stories.
Coates said, ‘It used to be really simple. We’d be able to turn on the TV and there’d be content quotas that would lead us to Australian content. That’s the biggest shift.’
Platform segmentation has led to diverse means of discovery, but that shift has also spread engagement across a number of sources. Looking at it through a different lens, this platform segmentation has also allowed for audiences to discover new content that appeals directly to them.
Brennan asked, ‘Are we telling the stories that will resonate? I think that’s something we need to take a serious look at ourselves.’
As an example of this discoverability issue, the success of Glitch Productions’ The Amazing Digital Circus was raised. This direct-to-audience project was delivered via online media and garnered a passionate fanbase for its character-driven IP approach, as well as how it served its audience.
Glitch Productions’ work, as well as those of other online creators, was cited as a lesson for those in more traditional media. The Screen Australia team was particularly keen for traditional media to learn from the creator model and how it interacts directly with audience, in ways that traditional media doesn’t.
As the Australian screen industry heads towards a new future, Screen Australia is looking to learn these lessons and integrate them into existing support and public policy to ensure greater audience engagement and more sustainable business practices.
Per Perkins, this transformation will only come about with ‘policy and industry working together to achieve results’.
