The number of First Nations main characters in local TV drama has gone from 4.8% to 7.2% in five years, according to Screen Australia’s diversity report.
But there is a lot of work still to be done to reflect the true diversity of the population as one in four of the main casts of the 361 programs analysed is entirely Anglo-Celtic. This is down from one-third of all shows in 2016.
Although only 53% of the Australian population has Anglo-Celtic ancestry, this group is represented by 71% of main characters in the study, which is a follow-up to the main funding body’s landmark study of screen diversity.
Screen Australia declined to provide Guardian Australia with the list of shows that had all-white casts.
“This report aims to take a holistic view of representation across TV, and therefore we haven’t tallied results for individual programs or broadcasters,” a spokesperson said.
The 2016 report analysed 1,961 main characters from 199 dramas between 2011 and 2015, and the cultural backgrounds of the 988 actors who portrayed the characters on screen in the most significant study of diversity on Australian screens since television launched here in 1956.
The recent study showed the level of First Nations representation on screen – thanks to hit ABC shows Mystery Road, Total Control and Black Comedy – is strong compared with the population benchmark of 3.8%.
But it is the public broadcasters which appear to be doing all the heavy lifting. Long-running commercial soapies Home and Away on Seven and Neighbours on Ten have been criticised for their whitewashing of the Australian community. Neighbours was axed in 2022 but has been resurrected by Amazon.
While the representation of disabled people has risen to 6.6% from 3.6% and LGBTIQ+ people to 7.4% from 4.5% five years ago, disability representation remains critically low compared with the benchmark of 18% of the Australian population who have a disability.
Screen Australia’s chief executive, Graeme Mason, welcomed the improvements but said the pace of progress was slow.
“We believe it’s essential for our screen stories to authentically reflect our nation and how it’s made up,” Mason told Guardian Australia.
“It makes sense commercially because to connect to an audience – whether to watch your show or to buy a subscription – you’ve got to see things that interest you. And that’s normally seeing things about ourselves.”
Mason said Netflix’s Australian commission Heartbreak High was a good example of a truly diverse show with broad commercial appeal.
The Screen Australia study found that while Indigenous Australians were well represented onscreen compared with their proportion of the population, people fromsome Asian and European backgrounds were significantly underrepresented.
The arts minister, Tony Burke, said Australian drama on screen was compelling and powerful but didn’t reflect the population.
“It’s a cornerstone of how Australians see themselves, learn about each other and how the world comes to know us,” Burke said. “It shouldn’t be too much to ask that, when you watch Australian screens, it looks like modern Australia.”
The qualitative research in the report, based on interviews with people in the industry, found that systemic barriers in the screen industry for people from historically excluded and underrepresented groups, particularly disabled people and those experiencing socioeconomic disadvantage, persisted.
Interviewees said there was a need to increase diversity among producers, commissioners and leadership of screen organisations.
The gender split between men and women was equal, the report found, and there were 18 transgender or gender diverse main characters, including five trans men, eight trans women and five non‑binary characters in the shows analysed.
Screen Australia is the Australian federal government agency that supports the development, production and promotion of Australian scripted and documentary content.
