Indigenous screen sector has cemented its place in Australian storytelling

Australian Indigenous filmmakers and producers have cemented their place in the screen industry as a core part of national identity, Arrernte and Kalkadoon producer Rachel Perkins has told an industry conference.

Ms Perkins, the inaugural Director of First Nations Strategy at Screen Australia, joined a panel at the Screen Forever conference to discuss Australia’s screen future.

She reflected on how far the Indigenous film industry had progressed over the past two decades. Twenty years ago there was no NITV. There were no Indigenous leads at state agencies. Indigenous productions were considered unlikely to rate. The Australian Film Commission’s Indigenous budget sat at around one million dollars.

Ms Perkins said the sector had now “cemented” its place in the industry as core to Australian identity and storytelling. She said progress had been driven by advocacy, organisation and the use of available policy levers.

She pointed to Goolagong on the ABC, Warwick Thornton’s Wolfram now in cinemas, and Kangaroo, co-produced by an Indigenous production company, as evidence of progress.

Ms Perkins, a co-founder of Blackfella Films, joined Screen Australia in March 2026 in the newly created role. The position reports directly to chief executive Ms Deirdre Brennan.

She told the forum that the First Nations First government policy was a key lever for the sector. However it did not extend across the broader streams of new income now flowing into the industry through the production offset and the 10 per cent streaming requirement. That left a gap in funding for First Nations filmmakers that needed to be addressed.

A related concern was that talent was concentrating at the top of the industry without enough new entrants coming through. Screen Australia was looking at micro-dramas and other emerging formats as a way for new content creators to take risks and reach audiences directly.

Detailed collaboration across the sector was also a priority. A national training and professional development pathway involving AFTRS, NIDA, state agencies, Screen Australia, NITV, SBS and the ABC would help co-ordinate routes from entry level through to senior professional development.

Ms Perkins’s screen credits include Mystery Road, Total Control, Redfern Now, Bran Nue Dae, Radiance, Mabo, First Australians and the documentary series The Australian Wars. She co-founded Blackfella Films in 1992 and stepped away from the company in 2022 before joining Screen Australia.