Australian screenwriting

Towards policy and education reform

Bibliographic Data

ID19223261
AuthorsJulian Meyrick (0000-0002-2510-9251, Griffith University, corresponding author), Craig Batty (0000-0002-8542-4763, University of South Australia), Gavin Hambly (0000-0002-6930-4104, La Trobe University, corresponding author), Noel Maloney (0000-0001-8862-6435, La Trobe University)
Year2026
Publication date2026-05-15
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueMedia International Australia (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1329-878X • E-ISSN: 2200-467X
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/1329878x261446676
OpenAlexW7161243022
LanguageEN
References cited27

Australian screen storytelling is in a state of crisis. Culturally relevant stories that reflect the sensibility of Australians are disappearing from our television and cinema screens and rarely appear on the streamers. This has occurred while government ministers proclaim Australian stories are essential to well-being, social cohesion, and nation-building. In this article we argue that underlying the quantitative drop in Australian drama is a more fundamental problem: the capacity of Australian screenwriters to imagine culturally relevant stories. The origins of this lie in the internationalisation of screen industry policy, the programs and priorities of screen funding agencies, and the dominance of the Hollywood narrative paradigm in the training of screenwriters in higher education. Together, these influences have systematically eroded ‘Australianness’ in screenwriting. This article calls for research into policy frameworks and training to ensure a better place for Australian voices in education, screen development and production in future

Dominance (genetics) · Drama · Hollywood · Narrative · Project commissioning · Publishing · Sensibility · Storytelling · Artistic and Creative Research · Cultural Industries and Urban Development · Theatre and Performance Studies

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access