According to the government’s own calculations in support of its regulation, the total obligation for the streamers who currently meet the threshold would be between $175 million and $200 million a year, based on existing subscriber numbers and estimates of program expenditure (10 per cent of which must be directed to Australian content) or revenue (7.5 per cent).

Separately, the Australian Communications and Media Authority released its annual report on expenditure by streaming services on Wednesday. It found they had spent a record $309.7 million on adult drama in 2024-25.

The figures cited by Screen Australia and the ACMA differ because the former reflects total expenditure on drama while the latter captures only the streamers’ contribution to it (excluding the producer offset and any state incentives).

One other objection to the legislation that was consistently raised by the streamers and the free-to-air broadcasters was the inflationary impact it would probably have, by increasing the number of shows commissioned and thus the competition for cast, crew and facilities.

The Drama Report offers evidence for and against that argument.

Across all TV – free-to-air, cable, subscription video on demand – the report found there was a decrease in the number of titles, the hours, and the total spending. However, the cost per hour of drama production was up significantly.

On free-to-air TV, the average cost of an hour of drama has risen from about $685,000 last year to $860,000 this year, driven in large part by the demise of low-cost serial Neighbours. On cable and streaming, the increase has been even starker, with the average cost per hour rising from $3.6 million a year ago to $5.1 million this year. But with almost half of all production attributable to foreign titles, the greatest inflationary factor is Hollywood.

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Children’s drama, meanwhile, is in an increasingly parlous state, with just five titles entering production in the 2024-25 financial year, for a total of 21 hours and spending of $34 million, down from $58 million the previous year and well below the five-year average of $61 million.

Screen Australia boss Deirdre Brennan said the report highlighted that screen production was a rapidly evolving landscape.

“While there is moderate growth in local drama expenditure, fewer TV titles entered production across free-to-air, subscription video on demand and children’s content, showing ongoing shifts in commissioning behaviour,” she said. “This presents an industry challenge, but also an opportunity to seek out new areas of collaboration and innovative production to ensure we continue to elevate Australian storytelling.”

Ausfilm boss Kate Marks, meanwhile, could afford to be more bullish. As well as $1 billion in foreign film production and half a billion-plus in post-production work, another $302 million was spent on two international subscription-video-on-demand productions in Australia.

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Marks claimed the “record level of international production activity”, underpinned by some of the most generous tax incentives on the planet, “helps sustain the ecosystem that supports Australian stories by keeping our crews working, funding training, enabling investments into screen businesses and building capabilities.

“At a time of global industry disruption,” she said, “the ongoing mix of local and international work makes our screen industry resilient, sustainable and globally competitive.”