Australian content on TV is not so Australian?

My friend Jonathan did a story broadcast on ABC Radio (fast forward to about midway in) about “a couple of Home and Away writers who got frustrated at the unrepresentative nature of their show and other Aus TV – ie all blond Anglos, so they are launching their own new TV series written by Sydney young people called Represent. The official launch is next week”.

Interestingly, Australian laws require television broadcasters to show a minimum quota of “Australian content”. The Government’s reasoning behind this is the preservation of “Australian culture” against incursions by foreign shows/culture, but I’ve never found Australian drama or TV in general very representative of Australia at all. If you look at the racial makeup of Australia, it’s not reflected on TV. But from the sounds of the story, it’s more about making Australia a tourist attraction (ie all foreign viewers want to see are blond surfies on beaches). US TV seems to do a slightly better job in this respect. “Represent” should be an interesting show, although of course if it gets picked up by a station, it will launching on a national broadcaster (ABC or SBS) and not a commercial one.

  8:32pm (GMT +11.00)  •  Culture  •   •  Tweet This  •  Comments (1)