Now lawBusiness & Trade Introduced in the House of Representatives, 06 Nov 2025

Large streamers must now spend on new Australian shows

Most Australians now watch TV by streaming. But streamers never had to make local shows. This law makes services with 1 million or more Australian subscribers spend money on new Australian drama, kids' shows and documentaries.

Official name: Communications Legislation Amendment (Australian Content Requirement for Subscription Video On Demand (Streaming) Services) Bill 2025

Who it affects

• Viewers: Big streamers must pay for new Australian shows. The law does not set how many hours they must show.
• Netflix, Disney+, Stan, Prime Video and other big streamers: They must spend a set share of their budget on new Australian shows. They must report to the media watchdog each year.
• Australian writers, actors and production companies: Streamers must keep paying for new local shows. That means steady work in the industry.
• Small and niche streamers: Services under 1 million subscribers, or with shows for small special-interest groups like Japanese cartoons (anime), do not have to spend.

Streamers had no local rules

Free TV channels and pay TV have had to show Australian shows for years. Streaming services you pay for each month never had such a rule.

In 2022, streaming overtook free TV as the most popular way Australians watch shows.

The Australian Communications and Media Authority is the government's watchdog for TV, radio, phones and the internet. This article calls it the media watchdog. It found most people who stream want more Australian stories.

A 2023 study by the research firm Ampere Analysis looked at what was on offer. Australian shows made up 8.8% of what Stan had. They made up 4.1% of Netflix and 3.6% of Amazon Prime Video. On Disney+ it was 0.2%. Apple TV+ had no Australian shows at all.

Streamers spent an average of $333.5 million a year on Australian shows between 2021 and 2024. They did not have to. The government says some streamers make few or no new Australian shows. It says nothing made sure the rest would keep going.

The government also points to Spain. Netflix promised about $1.7 billion for new shows there from 2025 to 2028. That is more than all streamers spent on Australian shows since 2019.

This law was a promise in the government's plan for the arts, called Revive.

Which streamers are covered

The rule applies to major streaming services. A service is major if it has at least 1 million paying subscribers in Australia at any time in the year. It must also carry drama or similar shows.

The government's notes on the bill expect this to cover Netflix, Amazon Prime, Stan, Apple TV+, Disney+, Paramount+ and Binge. They expect HBO Max to join once it starts here.

Some services are left out. These include services that mostly carry videos people upload themselves. They also include pay-per-view rentals.

Niche services for special interest groups are left out too. The notes name Crunchyroll, which is mostly Japanese anime, as an example.

The media watchdog can let whole groups of services off. One example is an app that copies a pay TV channel that already has local content rules, like Foxtel Go.

How much they must spend

Each year, a major service must spend at least 10% of its total show budget for Australia on new Australian shows. That total includes an Australian share of shows the company makes or buys for the whole world.

A service can choose a different way to count. It can spend 7.5% of the money it makes in Australia from subscriptions and ads.

It must pick this within 60 days of the start of a 3-year period. It then sticks with that choice for 3 years.

The shows must be drama, kids', documentary, arts or learning shows. News, sport and ads do not count. A kids' show is one made for people aged 15 or younger.

The shows must be new. That means made for the streamer, or bought before they were first shown in Australia. A cinema release first is allowed.

They must count as Australian under the same rules free TV uses. Shows from New Zealand count. So do shows made under official deals between countries.

There are no separate floors for kids' shows or documentaries. The government's notes say the total would come to about $175 million to $200 million a year. That is roughly 48 to 53 hours of shows.

Three years to catch up

TV shows can take years to make. Spending comes in big lumps.

So a service that falls short one year can carry what it owes into the next 2 years. A service that spends extra can carry the extra forward too.

The government gives this example. A streamer owes $10 million a year. In Year 3 it spends $15 million. That clears Year 1 and half of Year 2.

If it still owes money from a year that is 2 or more years old, it has broken the rules.

Paying a fine does not wipe the debt. The service still has to spend the money.

Reports, notices and penalties

Major services must send the media watchdog a report every year.

Any streaming service with at least 250,000 paying Australian subscribers must tell the watchdog it exists within 60 days. It must also tell the watchdog when things change.

The watchdog can demand papers and information. Services cannot dodge the rules with fake deals between related companies.

The fine for failing to spend can be very large. Fines in Australian law are set in penalty units, which are fixed dollar amounts. For a company, a court can order up to 10,000 of them. Or it can order 10 times the amount the company should have spent, if that is more.

The government says small fines would not stop large global companies.

Failing to report or tell the watchdog has a lower fine. It is up to 60 penalty units for a company. The watchdog can also hand out on-the-spot fines for these.

Review and smaller changes

The minister must order a review once the rules have run for 4 years. The arts minister can also ask the watchdog for reports at any time.

Part 2 of the bill makes small changes to the watchdog's own law. These let it share and use information it collects under the new rules.

Start date

Arts Minister Tony Burke brought in the bill. He put it to the House of Representatives, the larger house of Parliament, on 6 November 2025.

It passed the House on 25 November. The Senate, the second house of Parliament, passed it on 27 November 2025.

The Governor-General is the King's stand-in in Australia. He or she signed it into law on 4 December 2025. It started the next day.

The law started late in the year. So the first reporting year is the whole of 2025. Spending and subscriber numbers from earlier in 2025 count too.

How they voted

Its journey through Parliament

Official sources

• Bill page on aph.gov.au
• Text of the bill
• Explanatory memorandum
• Bills Digest

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