In the latest survey conducted by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), the Australian screen industry has demonstrated significant growth in employment.
The survey, funded by Screen Australia and carried out periodically since 1993, included for the first time data covering film and video distribution businesses and film exhibition businesses.
Screen Australia’s CEO Graeme Mason expressed his delight at the survey results, which portrayed an “exciting” growth of employment opportunities and confirmed the booming billion-dollar digital games sector. The industry, being the largest creative contributor to the economy, employed approximately 55,000 people and contributed more than $6 billion in value-added to the Australian economy in the financial year of 2021/22.
The survey also showed that total industry employment has grown by 37% since 2015/16, reflecting the vital role of the screen workforce to the economy. The largest proportions of people employed were seen in film and video production and exhibition. Digital games developers saw a whopping 203% increase compared to 2015/16.
Film and video businesses reported a significant growth in output since 2015/16, rising by 43% to $1,611 million in 2021/22. Income for these businesses also grew by 75% to $4,575 million. Interestingly, these businesses received significantly more post-production, digital, and visual effects (PDV) services income compared to 2015/16, indicating an increasing trend of in-house PDV work.
Despite the growth, there were also substantial increases in expenses, primarily due to rising labour costs. Film and video post-production businesses generated $604 million total income in 2021/22, a 34% increase from 2015/16. Value-added also increased by 23% to $374 million.
The survey included data from film and video distribution and film exhibition businesses, which reported a combined income of $2,757 million and an aggregated profit of $155 million. Mason acknowledged the significant hardship experienced by these sectors over the past few years.
There were setbacks for commercial free-to-air broadcasters and subscription broadcasters and channel providers, who saw a decline in income and value-added, partly due to increased global competition.
Television production saw a modest increase in total hours produced, with genres like television drama and documentary showing strong growth. Meanwhile, feature films, film documentaries, short films, and short-form online content showed significant growth between 2015/16 and 2021/22.
The digital games sector showed considerable growth, producing 299 games during 2021/22, a 68% increase since 2015/16. Despite an increase in expenses, this sector reported a 204% increase in operating profit before tax, reaching $84 million in 2021/22.
Mason stressed the importance of using this data to “drive change”, ensuring the domestic industry is best positioned to encourage more Australian stories on screens both locally and globally.
