AWG applauds support for the Australian online games sector

20 May, 2016

The Australian Writers’ Guild (AWG) has welcomed a Senate Committee Report that recommends increased government support for the country’s video and online games development industry.

The report by the Senate’s Environment and Communications References Committee makes a number of recommendations including include: a new funding scheme based on the former Australian Interactive Games Fund; a refundable tax offset for Australian expenditure in the development of game titles, similar to the producer offset in the film industry; financial support for work spaces and federal support for dialogue between video games developers and user groups, especially with government departments.

The Senate Committee’s other recommendations include: support for crowdfunding and for the National Broadband Network; guidelines on staffing and employment, especially greater diversity; and using the Export Market Development Grants scheme for businesses in the digital economy.

The Guild’s recently established Games & Interactive Advisory Committee (GIAC) endorses the findings and recommendations of the Senate Committee in support of this important creative industry.

The GIAC’s Chair Teresa Crea says: “Games are a significant medium utilised not only by the entertainment industry, but increasingly for education and training purposes, in sectors as diverse as defence, health and simulation.”

“They are a vital part of the innovation economy and need to be recognised as such,” she says.

More on the AWG's GIAC can be found HERE.More on the Senate Committee's Report can be found HERE.