Australia’s international coproduction treaties are in urgent need of revamping to better reflect the current screen industry, according to Screen Producers Australia (SPA).
Matthew Deaner
Speaking at the Australian International Documentary Conference (AIDC) in Melbourne today, SPA chief Matthew Deaner said that while progress on regulatory reform has been “encouraging” over the past year, “structural settings must continue to evolve if Australian documentary is to thrive in 2026 and beyond.”
He has called for continued reform to ensure the government’s National Cultural Policy’s commitment to genres including documentary is fully realised.
Updating of coproduction treaties is a key area that needs work, he said. “For example, the formal coproduction arrangement with Canada is over 20 years old and reflects realities about screen production that no longer exist. Meanwhile, our attempts for renewed coproduction arrangements with the UK have not progressed since announcements made in 2021.”
SPA took a delegation of around 20 Australian producers to the Prime Time conference in Canada in late January in a bid to update the countries’ coproduction treaty.
Deaner said that the need for media reform was essential, even with clear wins such as the introduction of streaming content obligations. These will now be tested by whether the new streaming framework “translates into genuine commissioning activity for independent producers, including documentary makers.”
“Whilst the intent of the reform is clear, its impact will depend on how it is delivered in practice, especially in the absence of a required genre mix,” he claimed.
Deaner said SPA remained engaged to ensure the regulatory settings result in tangible outcomes for documentary production businesses.
Regarding the documentary reform agenda, he said that lifting the 65-hour cap on doc access to the Producer Offset remained a priority.
“The cap is an outdated constraint that limits the ability of documentary producers to grow sustainable slates and respond to audience demand. If we are serious about sector sustainability, documentary must be treated equitably within our screen incentives framework.”
He added that this should also include access to the Post, Digital and Visual Effects Offset for feature documentaries, “without which Australia will continue to lose this work to other territories.”
Deaner noted that doc makers rely on a variety of channels to distribute their projects: “Aligning the treatment of TV and feature films under the offset system would relieve unnecessary financial strain in documentary production,” he said.
Natalie Apostolou 04-03-2026©C21Media