Written by Kianna Best on May 15, 2023. Posted in Incentive News

Ausfilm celebrates new 30% location offset

As part of their 23/24 budget the Australian Federal Government announced an increase to the region’s location offset. Starting from 1 July 2023, the current offset will increase from 16.5% to 30%. Ensuring certainty and stability for the local film and television production sector, the increase will also see a boost to the surrounding economy.

 

“This is outstanding news for the industry,” commented Ausfilm CEO Kate Marks. “A permanent 30% location offset will ensure a robust pipeline of both physical production and PDV work into the future, and cement Australia’s position as a leader in the global screen industry.”

 

Image courtesy of Caleb JmuyB by Unsplash

 

The two programmes which have been running since 2018- the 16.5% location offset and 13.5% location incentive grant- will come together to streamline the whole process as the transition to the new location offset takes place. Australia’s production sector has been  active, with 40 international productions under their belt over the past fiver years, generating AUS3.28 billion in private investment, 22, 000 employment opportunities and work for over 23,500 local businesses,

 

Marks added: “Increasing the location offset will result in meaningful benefit for the entire sector and the economy related to jobs and training opportunities, innovations in technology, infrastructure development, along with direct benefits to businesses not dedicated to the screen industry (e.g. construction, education, hospitality, security, travel, real estate). It will also drive significant benefits to regional locations and businesses.

 

Shantaram image courtesy of Apple Tv

 

Aligning with the current 30% PDV offset, the new location offset will ensure that Australia remains a highly competitive contender in the screen sector. Along with the new location offset, there have been some changes to the criteria including a minimum qualifying Australian production threshold increase from AUS 15 million and AUS 1 million per hour of television series to AUS 20 million and AUS 1.5 million per hour of television series.

 

“International clients have demonstrated their willingness to work with us on skills and training, and this decision provides a big opportunity to build the industry’s capacity across infrastructure and skills into the future,” Marks concluded.

 

The new eligibility requirements introduced expect production to meet minimum training  obligations or contribute to the broader workforce and infrastructure capacity of the sector, use one or more Australian providers to deliver post, digital and visual effects for the production, and ensure that new reporting requirements are proposed as part of the location offset application process to capture data, including employment of Australian crew and use of local businesses.

 

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