Streaming platforms like Netflix, Stan, and Amazon Prime Video are now major investors in Australian content, especially drama, while commercial broadcasters focus their spending on news, current affairs, lifestyle, and sports.

Australian TV drama is increasingly produced by streaming services, with platforms funding drama in line with rules that require at least 10% of Australian program spend or 7.5% of revenue to go to Australian content across drama, children’s, documentary, arts, and education.

Australian children’s TV is in sharp decline, with viewing hours dropping about 42% from the 2000–2020 average to roughly 65 hours per year between 2021 and 2024, driven by changing viewing habits and reduced commissioning by commercial networks.

Audience behavior reveals a paradox: 84% value local content, yet only a minority spend more than a third of their viewing time on Australian-made film or TV, and 36% find it easy to locate Australian content, suggesting reliance on algorithms they don’t fully trust.

The Screen Australia Screen Currency 2026 report, surveying over 13,550 people, notes ongoing growth in the Australian screen and games sector, which contributed over $11 billion to the economy in 2023–24 and employed nearly 70,000 people in 2024–25.

Even as TV drama dips, Australian drama feature films commissioned rose by 43% between 2021–2024 compared with 2000–2020, though box office returns have declined over the past decade.

Netflix remains the most-watched platform in Australia (about 69% of respondents), followed by Seven, Nine, and Ten (together at 63%), with YouTube at 56%, indicating evolving platform preferences among viewers.

Relaxation of the government quota for 260 hours of children’s programming per year for Seven, Nine, and Ten led to a reduction in commissioned children’s content by those networks, while ABC remains the main source of first-run Australian kids’ TV in 2025.