Not just Kangaroos and Koalas: evaluating the operation and outcomes of Australian local content regulation on pay-TV

Abstract

The production and distribution of ‘local’ content around the world has been a major regulatory pressure point emerging from the global rise of video streaming platforms. To support greater evidence-based policy development as these regulations emerge, this article reflects on the outcomes of Australian local content regulation on pay-TV. In doing so, the article explores the cultural outcomes of Australian pay-TV local content regulations since the 1990s. This article demonstrates how prevailing Australian cultural policy frameworks facilitate particular types of content. The Australian case study highlights the fraught relationship between policy goals and outcomes that can occur with cultural frameworks that do little to regulate the type of culture produced and suggests a greater separation between cultural and industrial value of content is needed by regulators. The findings from this analysis of Australian cultural policy can be valuable to other interventionist markets as new regulations are considered.