Australia is moving to a new streaming quotas law that would require online video services with more than one million subscribers to invest in Australian content, with penalties potentially near a billion dollars if targets aren’t met over three years.

The bill is expected to be tabled in Parliament; Greens are not anticipated to block it, and Screen Producers Australia has endorsed the framework despite it falling short of their preferred 20% levy.

Negotiations over levy levels and targets have stretched for years, with the Greens and production sector seeking higher thresholds, and the government aiming to have the law in place by early next year.

The legislation seeks to guarantee Australian-content production to stabilise the local screen industry and create consistency across broadcasting by closing gaps in current SVOD obligations.

Streaming platforms can choose between two calculation methods for compliance: allocate 10% of total programming expenditure to Australian content, or allocate 7.5% of Australian revenues from subscriptions, advertising, and other sources, with a three-year commitment.

Under the revenue-based approach, Netflix, Australia's largest streamer with over six million paid subscribers and more than 14 million viewers, would face an estimated obligation near $97.5 million; the expenditure-based method is harder to quantify due to overlapping costs.

Penalties for missing targets are set at 10 times the expenditure obligation, potentially equating to roughly a $975 million fine for Netflix if it undershoots in the three-year window, with similar terms applying to other streamers.

The push toward quotas has evolved since 2017, from a voluntary levy idea to a formal statutory regime following Labor’s 2022 election.

Industry warns that the new rules could raise production costs and dampen incentives, though government figures forecast a gradual rise in spending and hours of Australian content rather than a sharp spike.