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Home & Away welcome changes to producer offset

Now eligible for a 30% rebate, Seven soap announces a production internship program & more location filming.

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Minister for the Arts Tony Burke paid a visit to the Summer Bay diner as Seven network welcomed  the Federal Government’s decision to amend the producer offset meaning Home & Away is now eligible for a 30% rebate.

Seven West Media Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, James Warburton, said: “We would like to acknowledge and thank Minister for the Arts, Tony Burke, and the Albanese Government for their decision to amend the legislation and for recognising the vital role Home & Away plays in the Australian television sector.

“Home & Away is a remarkable show and has been an integral part of many Australians’ lives for almost four decades. Access to the producer offset will enable us to increase Home & Away’s domestic and international appeal, ensure it remains competitive as an Australian drama, and reinforce the significant contribution it makes to the Australian TV industry and Australian culture.”

Seven has also announced a series of new initiatives including a new production internship program and an investment in more location filming, including in regional Australia.

Seven Chief Content Officer, Entertainment Programming, Angus Ross, said: “Our new investment in Home & Away, made possible by the Government’s decision, will strengthen its future, enable it to tell even more great Australian stories and create a new pathway for people who want to be part of that sector.

“More location filming will help ensure Home & Away maintains its globally acclaimed production values and will create new work for the Australian production sector.”

Heading into its 37th season next year, Home and Away is one of the most watched programs – and the longest running continuous drama series – on Australian TV. It is a core part of the content on Seven and 7plus, reaching more than three million people every week. It is one of the most successful programs on any streaming platform in Australia, with an average total TV audience (broadcast and digital) of about one million people every night.

Home and Away is also one of Australia’s most successful cultural exports, having been sold to more than 140 countries around the world and kickstarting the careers of many of Australian’s most successful actors, directors and screenwriters.

A report from ACIL Allen last year revealed that Home and Away had added more than $7.5 billion to Australia’s GDP since it started and generated almost 13,000 employee years of full-time equivalent direct and indirect jobs in Australia.

The report also found Home and Away had increased Australia’s tourism appeal as a destination in the UK, Ireland and New Zealand by 33%.

5 Responses

  1. Another hand out for Kerry Stokes’ Seven, government would no doubt be hoping it translates to positive news coverage of politics in the lead up to the next election- particularly in Western Australia and where Stokes owns the big newspapers and the government wants to hold seats to stay in power. This is about more than just Home and Away’s future.

  2. Subsidises don’t create a single job, they just determine where jobs are. That’s what happens when you subside mediocrity. So H&A gets 1m total viewers on Mondays (it’s lower on Thursdays) and sells in 80 countries. And isn’t profitable or wouldn’t need massive government subsidies. If Seven wasn’t making H&A, which is not a drama but a low budget, melodramatic soap opera, they would have had to make more the 2 seasons of RFDS in the last few years. So viewers could have had economic activity and some drama with something to say.

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