July 4, 2024 – Ausfilm applauds the passage of legislation in Parliament today increasing the Location Offset to 30%, delivering a huge win for the Australian screen industry and broader Australian economy by bringing millions of dollars of direct foreign investment into local businesses, delivering sustainable careers, creative innovation, skills and training, and complementing existing funding for Australian projects.

Kate Marks, Ausfilm CEO said, “This is fantastic news for the industry. The 30% Location Offset will provide certainty for international productions, supporting a stable pipeline of work for thousands of Australian screen workers and businesses, and triggering investment into new industry capacity and capabilities.

“After years of advocacy, it is incredibly gratifying to see it finally come to fruition. Ausfilm is thankful to all of our members and partners who have helped our efforts over the years, and we look forward to working with our international clients to help build the industry’s capacity across skills, training and infrastructure into the future.”

The increased Offset will create a cascade of benefits beyond direct work for crew, cast and businesses. The certainty provided will enable Australian businesses across production and post-production to invest in their people, technology and equipment, and focus on research and development. The reform will also encourage new investments into infrastructure, which will support the local industry. Large-scale international productions provide opportunities for local creatives such as directors, actors, writers and producers, and build capacity and capabilities, underpinning the industry’s ability to keep telling Australian stories.

The benefits flow outside the industry as well, to drivers and taxis, construction and labourers, restaurants and caterers, and creative industries like music. International production also drives significant benefits to regional locations and businesses, and promotes increased tourism, while innovations in screen sector technology have aided in other fields such as medical research and disaster management.

Marks continued, “Australia has always been a great place to make films and TV: now, we are one of the most competitive. Foreign spend on drama production and post-production reached record-breaking levels in 2022/23 per Screen Australia’s Drama Report^, driven by large-scale titles such as Anyone But You, The Fall Guy, Godzilla x Kong: The New Empire, Kingdom of the Planet of the Apes and Ricky Stanicky, alongside post, digital and visual effects (PDV) work on titles that did not shoot in Australia such as Halo, Hocus Pocus 2 and Indiana Jones and the Dial of Destiny.

“It’s so rewarding to see studios and film and TV makers discover Australia and then come back again, testament to the incredible businesses and creative talent Australia has to offer, alongside our world-class facilities and diverse locations. The increased Location Offset sets us up for sustained success and exciting growth across production and post-production. We look forward to welcoming a raft of new projects, such as Amazon MGM Studios/AGBO’s The Bluff and Amazon MGM Studios/Skydance’s Balls Up, both in Queensland, and Sony’s untitled shark thriller in Victoria, and seeing Australian creativity, ingenuity and industry shine through on the world’s biggest and best productions.”

Ausfilm sincerely thanks the Australian Government, particularly Australia’s Prime Minister, the Hon Anthony Albanese MP; Minister for the Arts, the Hon Tony Burke MP; Treasurer, the Hon Dr Jim Chalmers MP; and Minister for Finance, Senator the Hon Katy Gallagher for this milestone legislation, which demonstrates the Government’s meaningful support of the Australian screen sector, the thousands of Australians who work in it, and the significant economic and cultural contributions it makes. Support for international production is an important element of Australia’s National Cultural Policy: Revive: a place for every story, a story for every place. Ausfilm also thanks the many representatives from across the Parliament that have supported this reform. 

THRESHOLDS AND ELIGIBILITY

The increased rebate will apply to projects that commence production after 1 July, 2023. Minimum qualifying Australian production expenditure thresholds have been increased from A$15 million, and A$1 million per hour for television series, to A$20 million, and A$1.5 million per hour for television series.

New eligibility requirements will be introduced. Productions must:

• Meet minimum training obligations or contribute to the broader workforce and infrastructure capacity of the sector.
• Engage one or more Australian providers to deliver post, digital and visual effects for the production.
• Provide new reporting to capture data including employment of Australian crew and use of Australian businesses.

^Screen Australia’s Drama Report 2022/23