The ABC and Screen Australia are partnering on an initiative to better support Australia’s First Nations screen industry.
The goal is to establish a framework for both organisations to create and strengthen career paths for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, from creative roles to the executive level. Another area of focus will be on strengthening developmental pitches to ensure more Indigenous-led productions get the nod.
ABC & Screen Australia partnership – quick links
Hard questions on First Nations plans in Senate Estimates
The news comes following intense Senate Estimates sessions last week, in which ABC managing director Hugh Marks was asked about reports the ABC was looking to restructure its Indigenous teams.
The ABC confirmed there was a proposal under consideration for the establishment of a new internal First Nations content and strategy team, including a new commissioning editor and proposed head of First Nations content.
‘What I want to do is, when we do something, is do it really well and get more out of it,’ Marks said, in response to a question form Senator Lidia Thorpe on whether he’d personally approved the shuttering of the Indigenous department.
‘The changes that we proposed did not land well with the staff,’ Marks said. ‘We’ve paused them, and we’re now going through a broader consultation period process. I’m sitting in those meetings myself. I sat in them with about 12 First Nations staff the other day. It was a really productive discussion, and I expect we’ll end up with a commissioner who will operate at the most senior level of the organisation.’
Screen Australia director of First Nations strategy Rachel Perkins said the agreement was ‘designed to nurture talent, create opportunities and ensure First Nations voices continue to shape Australia’s screen and media landscape’.
‘We look forward to opening doors, sharing knowledge and supporting the next wave of creative and industry leaders.’
ABC director of First Nations strategy Kelly Williams said the partnership reflected a shared commitment to supporting the next generation of First Nations screen practitioners and leaders.
‘I am excited to begin working with Rachel and Screen Australia to support career pathways, share knowledge and help grow the First Nations screen industry in ways that maximise the combined expertise, reach and resources of both organisations,’ she said.
An opportune moment
It follows recent news that interest in Australian films by First Nations filmmakers is rising overseas, with First Nations filmmaker Allan Clarke named director of the Festival du Cinéma Aborigène Australien, a festival focused on Indigenous Australian films.
Clarke is best known for his work as a documentarian. His previous works include The Dark Emu Story and The Bowraville Murders.
Growing up in Bourke in New South Wales’ far west, Clarke has spoken before about struggling to reconcile the often negative depictions of Indigenous Australian culture he’d see in film and television with the real-world community he lived in every day.
If committed to, fully and properly, initiatives like the one the ABC and Screen Australia are entering into could help ensure more young Indigenous Australians see themselves not just on film, but working in the space and telling their own stories too.
