Has the rise of streaming giants marginalised Australian stories?
By Freja Newman
28 May, 2022
Data Storytelling Assignment
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Recent data has exposed a decline in funding and support for Australian Arts and Entertainment education, production and representation as online streaming services take over.
For an industry so crucial in shaping our identity as a nation, Australian Arts and Entertainment has suffered many losses. While COVID-19 forced many industries and people to adapt, Arts had it particularly difficult, with data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) revealing a 95.2% decrease in job vacancies. Arts and recreation services endured the second highest proportion of payroll job losses; second to accommodation and food services.
“We were told to expect disappointment,” said Harry Driessen, a recent musical theatre graduate from Brent Street Performing Arts. “It was always going to be a super competitive industry, but COVID-19 just made it worse.”
The industry suffered $24 billion in lost output as a result of pandemic lockdowns. Due to this decline, Australia turned to increased foreign production.
Above you can see the percentage of foreign and Australian drama productions from 2011-2021. From 2017, the number of local productions produced in Australia decreased by 45%, whereas the number of foreign productions increased by 70%.
While this may have created more job opportunities in the short-term, it also had a detrimental impact on the number of Australian stories being told.
“As a multicultural country with over 65,000 years of history, art is key in reflecting the full spectrum of attitudes, rituals and icons that represent Australia,” said Luke Mesterovic, a student at Sydney University majoring in theatre and performance studies. “If all of the art that we consume is from overseas, where does that leave us?”
Bangarra Dance Theatre is one of Australia’s leading performing arts companies, committed to promoting unique, Australian stories. By drawing on “traditional stories and cultural ways of being”, this Indigenous dance theatre provides a platform to share the voices of Indigenous people today as their cultural identity continues to be under threat.
This company, alongside many others in Australia, had to overcome many challenges during COVID-19, shifting their mode of storytelling into the digital sphere. Stephen Page, the artistic director of Bangarra Dance Theatre, outlined in the company’s 2020 Annual Report that “lockdown provided a valuable opportunity for reflection on our purpose within the cultural landscape of Australia.”
“What became quickly apparent was people’s need for continued connection, and the unique importance and role of storytelling as a conscious human medicine,” he said.
Despite declines in the percentage of Australian productions, Australia’s creative companies have not given up; a reassuring hope for the future of Australian voices in the international Arts and Entertainment sphere.
However, federal regulation of global online streaming services has fallen short. Claire Pullen, a contributor for the Sydney Morning Herald, outlines how Netflix devotes “a mere 3.3 per cent of its catalogue to Australian content”, despite being Australia’s most popular streaming service.
Australian Screen Content Consumption in 2021
Source: Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications | 2021 Media Content Consumption Survey
The above graph depicts the most popular types of online consumption in Australia in 2021. Online subscription services, such as Netflix, Amazon Prime, DisneyPlus and Binge, were the highest online media consumed by the Australian public. In comparison, publicly owned free-to-air TV, which includes broadcasters such as ABC, SBS and NITV, was the lowest.
“I think during COVID-19, people became so used to the immediacy of streaming services like Netflix and DisneyPlus,” said Driessen, “and this has lowered our taste or desire for Australian content, both online and on the stage.”
This 2021 Media Content Consumption Survey data is used to inform the Australian government’s ongoing media reform. The federal inquiry into the future of Australian arts recommended a 20% levy to be placed on local revenue from these global streaming services to encourage new Australian drama, documentaries and children’s programs.
However, this promotion of Australian stories still has a long way to go on a federal level. In 2019 and 2020 respectfully, Australia experienced the abolition of the federal arts ministry and significant funding cuts to tertiary arts education.
“I was devastated,” said Mesterovic. “This country has a long history of philistinism, and [these changes] opened a sordid new chapter.”
“We should be promoting courses that encourage students to question the status quo and critically engage with the media to understand the truth”
Below you can see this immense drop in government contribution to Arts and Humanities courses at university. The two lines follow the changes in student and commonwealth contribution from 2011-2022, with the student contribution always being higher.
Contributions to Australian Tertiary Arts Funding
Source: Department of Education, Skills and Employment (DESE) | Job Ready Graduates Package Research and Resources
“Arts education is crucial in promoting critical thinking and creativity in society,” said Mesterovic. “Our future – be it economic or environmental relies on creativity and imagination. We should be promoting courses that encourage students to question the status quo and critically engage with the media to understand the truth.”
As a member of the Sydney University Dramatic Society, Mesterovic emphasised the creative and social value of this community. “Being given the autonomy to craft a work from the ground up as well as the money to do so is such a precious privilege, one that is both accessible and rewarding,” he said.
The cultivation of arts education is the first step in ensuring Australian stories will continue to be told and privileged.
The government has initiated COVID-19 recovery programs for the arts industry such as the Restart Investment to Sustain and Expand (RISE) Fund and the Arts Sustainability Fund.
However, as digital platforms rise in power and influence, the promotion of Australian stories must be paramount.
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Freja Newman 