By Staff Writer
Three billion into the economy, 25 thousand full time jobs, $725 million in extra tourist expenditure, $252 million in export earnings. Those are some of the impressive numbers included in Screen Australia’s “Screen Currency” report, launched this week by The Hon Mitch Fifield, Minister for the Arts. The report is the first of its kind, a comprehensive analysis of the Australian screen industry’s total economic and cultural worth, and will serve as a crucial guideline for industry support and development going into the future.
Minister Fifield said, “The Screen Currency report, commissioned by Screen Australia, reveals the value to Australians of our country’s vibrant screen sector and rich screen culture. The screen industry’s contribution to GDP, jobs and other sectors such as tourism is impressive enough, but the report further informs what we already instinctively know about Australian screen stories: they have a value that is more than entertainment.”
Graeme Mason, CEO of Screen Australia, elaborated on the report’s importance. “Until now the screen sector has relied heavily on gut feeling to determine our worth. Screen Currency solidifies our economic value and demonstrates that as an industry we’re punching above our weight. In essence this is a conservative creativity measure and the $3 billion would be considerably bolstered if you took into consideration activity and revenue generated by the advertising industries that is not captured in this report.”
Among the report’s findings:
Total contribution to GDP 2014/15: $3.072 billion; 25,304 full-time jobs
This includes film and TV content under Australian creative control: $2.6 billion; 20,000 full-time jobs
International tourism 2014/15: around 230,000 tourists; $725 million estimated expenditure
Exported content 2014/15 (feature films, TV dramas, documentaries): at least $252 million.
You can read the full report here, or check out the rather inspiring summary video, narrated by Deborah Mailman, above.
