The Australian Government announced changes to Australia’s Screen Production Incentives and guidelines. A snapshot of some of the main changes to the Australian Screen Production Incentives are:
- The Post, Digital and Visual Effects (PDV) Offset minimum qualifying Australian production expenditure spend will be increased from AU$500,000 to AU$1 million. These amendments will come into effect for productions that commence post, digital and VFX activity on, or after 1 July 2021.
- The rate of the Producer Offset will be standardised at 30 per cent for eligible film and television production, regardless of the release platform (currently it is 20 percent for TV and 40 percent for theatrical feature film).These amendments will come into effect for productions that commence principal photography on, or after 1 July 2021.
The main changes to the Location Offset & the Location Incentive Program guidelines are:
- The Location Incentive seeks to encourage international production companies and studios to commit to film multiple productions over multiple years in Australia to support continued employment and investment.
- To be eligible for the Location Offset and Incentive projects must genuinely be ‘footloose’, that is not already locked in to undertaking production in Australia.
- To be eligible projects must commit to undertaking training and skills development activities; and state/territory government support is required to be commensurate with the benefits that the production will bring to that state or territory.
- State/territory government support is required to be commensurate with the benefits that the production will bring to that state or territory.
These amendments will come into effect for productions that commence principal photography on, or after 1 July 2021 and the changes have been implemented to clarify the objectives of the Location Incentive Program and help the Australian Government continue to achieve the strongest outcomes for the government, production studios and the production industry.
Access the revised Location Incentive Program Guidelines here.
As noted in the Minister for Communications, Cyber Safety and the Arts’ announcement, the Australian Government has made the decision to pursue changes to the Australian Screen Production Incentive in response to the feedback received during the Government’s Supporting Australian stories on our screens Options Paper consultations.