Defunding feature documentaries – the numbers behind the rage

How many feature docs are made each year? What do they cost? How much tax subsidy do they use? Here are the actual numbers.

The Documentary Australia Foundation (DAF) has been working out the total impact of the changes of the Producer Offset threshold from $500,000 to $1 million which the Federal Government is introducing on July 1.

The figures are difficult to assemble. The rebate system is run by the Producer Offset and Co-production Unit (POCU), which sits inside Screen Australia. The general data on the Offset does not separate out feature documentaries from dramas, even though they are different beasts. 

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David Tiley was the Editor of Screenhub from 2005 until he became Content Lead for Film in 2021 with a special interest in policy. He is a writer in screen media with a long career in educational programs, documentary, and government funding, with a side order in script editing. He values curiosity, humour and objectivity in support of Australian visions and the art of storytelling.