SPA Calls for Increased ABC Funding & Supports Public Rally – Responding to ABC Chair Kim Williams’s recent speech, Screen Producers Australia (SPA) fully supports calls for increased funding for the ABC, which accords with SPA’s current advocacy on behalf of local screen-producing businesses. Increased funding for the ABC will also be a focus of a Sydney rally this Sunday, organised by ABC Friends.
According to Mr Williams, while recent additional Government funding has reversed the impact of the indexation pause of 2019-22, funding remains low by historical standards. In real terms, it is $150 per annum less than in 2013.
“There is little question that the ABC plays an essential role in our screen industry by uniting our nation through shared culture and storytelling. It is also a major commissioner of local Australian content, investing in a wide range of genres, including new documentaries, light entertainment, and adult and children’s drama programs,”
– said SPA CEO Matthew Deaner.
“SPA is only too aware that inadequate funding for the ABC is not only impacting its ability to fulfil its national interest obligations to Australian audiences — it is also having a big impact on our screen production sector and the viability of our member’s businesses.
“This effect is evident from the commissioning deals offered to producers that over the past year or so have gone from bad to worse. While the ABC’s overall financial investment in each of its programs has stagnated and more often significantly declined, the ABC has leveraged more rights from Producers for this reduced investment which in turn impacts the viability of our members to run sustainable businesses and continue to generate ongoing work of quality and scale.
“This is a product of the financial pressure the ABC is under, and if this continues unchecked, the result will be an insidious cycle of increasing harm to our nation’s capacity to generate its own cultural outputs.
“These current commissioning conditions are unfair and unsustainable, and that is the reason that at this Federal Election, SPA is supporting calls for additional funding for local content for the ABC and SBS – as long as this is tied to fair commissioning practices which better balance the current arrangements.
SPA also supports the upcoming public rally on Sunday, which calls for a strong and independent ABC. The event brings together political leaders, legal experts, media advocates, and the public to defend public-interest journalism and original Australian content.
“Australia needs well-funded public broadcasters now more than ever.
“The ABC plays a vital role in informing the public and supporting original Australian storytelling. SPA stands alongside those rallying to strengthen the ABC — for the strength of our screen culture and the future of our industry.
“The Australian screen industry is committed to a future that is proudly ‘Made in Australia’, but without additional funding for the ABC, that future is at risk,”
– said Deaner.
Media Release – SPA
Link to SPA HERE
TV Central Screen Australia content HERE
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