Australians Want More Local Film and TV — But Most Struggle to Find It

Australians overwhelmingly value homegrown film and television, but new research suggests audiences are increasingly struggling to find it in a streaming-dominated entertainment landscape.

Screen Australia’s newly released Screen Currency 2026 report found 84 per cent of Australians believe access to locally produced screen content is important, yet only 36 per cent said Australian content was easy to locate.

The findings expose a growing challenge for the local screen industry: Australians say they want Australian stories, but increasingly rely on global platforms and their recommendation algorithms to decide what they watch.

The report surveyed more than 13,550 people and found Netflix remains Australia’s most widely used viewing platform, watched by 69 per cent of respondents. Commercial broadcasters Seven, Nine and Ten collectively reached 63 per cent, while YouTube was used by 56 per cent.

Streaming platforms have also become increasingly important to the production of Australian drama.

Netflix, Stan and Prime Video are now significant investors in Australian content, while commercial free-to-air broadcasters have increasingly directed spending towards news, current affairs, lifestyle programming and sport.

Australian television drama production has consequently shifted.

An average 403 hours of Australian TV drama was broadcast annually between 2020 and 2024, representing a 12.4 per cent decline compared with the average between 2000 and 2019.

Children’s television has experienced an even sharper contraction. Average annual broadcast hours fell 42 per cent between 2021 and 2024 compared with the previous two decades, with commercial broadcasters largely retreating from commissioning the genre following the removal of children’s content quotas.

The decline presents a striking contrast to the extraordinary international success of Australian-made Bluey, which has become one of the country’s most recognisable cultural exports.

Feature filmmaking, however, is moving in the opposite direction. The number of Australian drama features produced annually increased by 43 per cent between 2021 and 2024 compared with the previous two decades, even as theatrical returns for Australian films remain under pressure.

The wider screen and games sector remains a major contributor to the Australian economy, generating more than A$11 billion in 2023-24 and directly employing almost 70,000 people.

The findings suggest Australia’s challenge is no longer simply producing local stories. In an entertainment market increasingly controlled by global platforms and algorithms, ensuring Australian audiences can actually discover them may prove just as important.