For those running between auditions, working tirelessly to obtain government film funding or pitching alternative TV scores to no avail, the results of Screen Australia’s study into diversity within the Australian TV industry probably won’t come as a surprise. Because despite a growing national conversation, Australia’s multicultural population still isn’t being represented onscreen.
Released yesterday, the report titled “Seeing Ourselves” examined the cultural backgrounds of almost 2000 main characters that have appeared on Australian TV in the last five years. Household faves like Home and Away, Puberty Blues and Dance Academy were analysed, revealing the assumption Australia is couched within a “golden-age” of higher quality TV doesn’t necessarily equate with a willingness to embrace a more diverse range of stars and storylines.
The report shows that while only 67 percent of the Aussie population is actually Anglo-Celtic, 82 percent of characters in our TV shows are. But we have improved in some areas: while three percent of the population are Indigenous or Torres Strait Islander, they make up five percent of characters onscreen.
It was also revealed that while 11 percent of Australia’s population identifies as LGBTQI, only five percent of characters in shows represent the LGBTQI community. Most programs that had a LGBTQI main character only had one, so safe to say queer relationships didn’t fare well either.
As Australian broadcasters turn their focus to producing shorter-run series thanks to our Netflix-generated desire to binge-watch anything and everything, we hope the report will act as a reminder for directors and producers that when watching TV, Australians want to see something considerably more inline with the world they actually live in
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Text Amy Campbell
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