Australia's Location Incentive attracts more than A$2bn production spend

Australia’s Location Incentive has created over 17,800 Australian jobs for cast and crew, and injected $1.4m (A$2.1bn) into the local economy through production expenditure to date, according to Paul Fletcher, the minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities and the Arts. 

Furthermore, the Bureau of Communications, Arts and Regional Research (BCARR) has revealed the Morrison government’s $540m Location Incentive is set to generate over $4.3bn in production expenditure in Australia through to 2026–27, creating more than 108,000 jobs and supporting 36,000 Australian businesses.

Fletcher said: “The Location Incentive has significant impacts on the Australian screen sector, including boosting direct expenditure to support metropolitan and regional businesses, creating record employment opportunities, boosting professional development for Australians working in the sector, along with cultural and tourism benefits.

“In the last two years we have injected more than A$1.5bn into Australia’s economy, with this analysis showing a further $2.79bn in production expenditure could be attracted in the next few years.

“Our regional towns have been home to some of Australia’s most unique film locations, from desert to forest landscapes. They’re set to benefit from the Fund, with more than one third of productions intending to film in regional Australia.”

Under the Location Incentive, funding of up to 13.5% of a production’s expenditure may be offered to large budget international screen productions that commit to filming in Australia and perform strongly against the assessment criteria. This complements the 16.5% tax rebate offered through the Location Offset.

The Australian government has invested $530m in the screen sector during the pandemic in 2020-2021.

Recent projects that have taken advantage of the Location Incentive include Amazon Studios' sci-fi film Foe, NBC series La Brea, Robbie Williams biopic Better Man, as well as George Clooney and Julia Roberts' rom-com Ticket to Paradise.