In 1956, independent producers united to lobby
federal and
state governments to support Australian content on television and in the cinema, using both regulation and subsidies. A secondary goal was to increase their bargaining power in
industrial relations negotiations with
trade unions representing actors and technicians. In the late 1950s, the
Australian Film Producers Association (
AFPA)was created, mostly consisting of producers of advertisements, who lobbied against the importation of
television advertising. For the next ten years, they lobbied to ensure higher levels of Australian content on
commercial television. AFPA became the
Film Production Association of Australia (
FPAA), registered in 1972 as an
employer association. The
Media, Entertainment and Arts Alliance (MEAA) and the producers' association have sometimes joined forces (such as lobbying for the protection of Australian industry and content), and sometimes clashed (such as with regard to the use of foreign actors in Australian films). Governments started funding some Australian
feature films during the 1970s, leading to the founding of the
Independent Feature Film Producers Association (
IFPA) in 1973. Difficulties in negotiating agreements with
Actors’ Equity led to a merger of IFPA and FPAA in 1976, forming the
Film and Television Production Association of Australia (
FTPAA). In 2023 the
Australian film industry was affected by the
SAG-AFTRA strike in the United States. In July 2023 SPA announced that wholly local film and TV productions, even those engaging members of the
Screen Actors Guild, could continue. It stated that a limited number of scripted offshore productions would be affected by the strike. Cast and crew working on series and films funded from the US would be stood down during the strike, but Australian-scripted productions using Australian and SAG members would not be affected by the strike order "if they were engaged under Australian industry contracts agreed to by SAG-AFTRA and the
MEAA". SPA supported the strike, but said that its members would not be supported if they withheld their labour. In November, SPA expected a negative effect on foreign productions shot in Australia. ==Description==