Speaker Claire Pullen - Executive Director of the Australian Writers Guild

The opportunity to listen and learn from someone with such a depth of industry experience, knowledge and passion happens rarely. Yesterday, for our first face to face meeting this year, we were treated to a wonderful experience with Claire Pullen, Executive Director of the Australian Writers Guild. Claire briefed us on the issues facing Australian writers working in film, television, radio and digital media and the work of the guild in representing these artists and workers.

During the last two years during the coronavirus period theatres have closed and the subsequent job loss has been substantial. 

Government support for the industry has been minimal leaving many people from this industry in financial crisis.

The other major disruptor to the industry has been streaming services. Australia is ranked 8^th in the world in terms of subscriptions to streaming services. On a per capita basis this puts Australia as a global leader in accessing viewing via streaming. The major problem for our film and television industry is that there is no government legislation supporting the creation of Australian content. This differs starkly from other countries where streaming services are obliged to create content.

Australian-made TV shows face an uphill battle to stay on our screens without further pressure applied by government reform.  At the moment, streaming services are free from quotas for Australian screen content – which the government describes as “critical for supporting cultural identity and social cohesion”. However, the government has failed to legislate meaningful reform to ensure Australian content is produced.

The Australian Writers Guild supports quota’s for Australian content and the thousands of jobs that would flow from such quotas. One of the excellent point Claire made during her presentation was that this type of reform costs the Australian taxpayer nothing, yet provides an enormous opportunity for more government revenue to be raised via the employment opportunities for locals.

We thank Claire for her time and her passion in raising these important issues with our club.