A new report from Monash University has suggested ways in which the Australian screen industry can improve diversity on screen.

Lack of diversity in content created by the screen industry has been a long-standing challenge with many reports showing than women, LGBTIQA+ people, people from non-European backgrounds, First Nations people and often shown at a level that is not consistent with society’s real make up.

Additionally, people working within the industry are often not from these backgrounds.

The report, Incentivising Australian Screen Diversity: Proposal for a Diversity Tax Offset, Grant, or Minimum Industry Standards is a collaboration between Monash Arts, Law and Business and Economics Faculties. Report authors include Professor Olivia Khoo, Professor John Bevacqua, Dr Maura Edmond, Associate Professor Andrew Moshirnia, and Dr Tamara Wilkinson, with researchers Carolyn Cage and Benjamin Shapero. 

Professor Olivia Khoo said the Australian screen industry has been historically dominated by networks that prioritise capturing a large, mainstream audience to ensure commercial success, with diversity seen as a secondary concern. 

“The Australian community is diverse, and it’s essential that our screen stories capture this. Authentic representation in our media not only strengthens our cultural identity but also ensures that every Australian has the opportunity to see themselves reflected on screen,” Professor Khoo said. 

The report outlined key diversity issues among population groups, including gender diversity where men continue to dominate the workforce overall (80 per cent) and progress more consistently into technical or creative leadership roles, contributing to a serious gender pay gap. 

The report considered existing State and Federal initiatives and policies aimed at promoting greater diversity and addressing inequality and under-representation. Researchers found many of these initiatives are often short-term, ad hoc and non-binding. 

“Without being written into legislation, diversity requirements are impossible to enforce on an industry-wide basis and can easily change as policy priorities shift. The lack of durability of existing schemes means they fall short when it comes to tackling ingrained diversity issues in Australia’s screen industry over the long term,” Professor Khoo said. 

The report also examined screen diversity initiatives from the UK, Europe and the US including minimum standards, funding bonuses and tax incentives and found Australia continues to lag behind its international counterparts. 

The report noted that the overall rate of LGBTIQ+ representation in Australian television drama
has increased in recent years. However, according to the latest Seeing Ourselves 2 report (2023), it is still
significantly below the population benchmark.

Almost seven out of ten titles had no LGBTIQ+ main characters, and almost half of the titles that featured LGBTIQ+ main characters featured just one. They also said there is also a severe lack of representation in children’s titles compared to dramas.

In order to inspire real change and momentum, researchers proposed four potential mechanisms for legislative and regulatory framework changes. 

They propose adopting diversity criteria as a minimum standard, providing a capped grant for productions that meet diversity criteria, adding diversity criteria to the existing producer tax offset and providing a media diversity tax offset. 

The researchers concluded that any effective mechanisms would need to be legislated to advance diversity on Australian screens both in front of and behind the camera. 

“Enhancing diversity on Australian screens is crucial not only for building cultural capital, but also for its lasting economic benefits – attracting new audiences and international collaboration,” Professor Khoo said.