Australia film tax incentive

What Australia actually pays

A credit that pays out in cash when it exceeds what you owe the state. Close to a rebate for most independent productions.

New to the mechanics? Tax credit vs rebate vs grant and What counts as qualified spend.

What qualifies

Large-budget feature films, telemovies, miniseries & TV series shooting in Australia. Min A$20M total QAPE; TV series also need A$1.5M avg QAPE per hour. No cultural/content test. MINIMUM TRAINING EXPENDITURE: the lesser of A$250,000 and 0.5% of QAPE for PP 1 Jul 2024-30 Jun 2025, rising to the lesser of A$500,000 and 1% of QAPE for PP on/after 1 Jul 2025 (alternative: establishing/upgrading permanent film infrastructure, or an approved training program). PDV RESIDENT REQUIREMENT: the production must engage one or more Australian resident entities (or foreign residents with an Australian permanent establishment) to supply some PDV services.

• Animation
• Miniseries
• Scripted TV
• Feature Film
• Streaming / SVOD

Other state programs

Separate incentives Australia runs alongside the headline program. Each has its own base, rules and application — the rates here are the programs' own, not additions to the rate above.

• PDV Offset

  Mutually exclusive with Producer & Location Offsets; stacks with state PDV rebates (e.g. SA 10% + 30% = 40%)

  Minimum spend: A$500K total PDV QAPE

  30%

• Producer Offset

  40% feature / 30% other (TV etc., PP on/after 1 Jul 2021). Mutually exclusive with Location & PDV Offsets; stacks with state incentives

  Minimum spend: Feature/single-episode A$500K QAPE; drama series A$1M total + A$500K/hr; documentary series A$500K total + A$250K/hr; short-form animation A$250K total + A$1M/hr; drama series season with A$35M+ QAPE exempt from per-hour minimum (PP on/after 1 Jul 2024)

  40%

• Screen NSW Post, Digital & Visual Effects (PDV) Rebate

  Stacks with federal PDV Offset (30%) for ~40% total; not available on components already funded by Made in NSW or Production Finance

  Minimum spend: A$500K qualifying NSW PDV expenditure

  10%

City, county & regional programs

Local incentives that can stack on top of the state program — but each defines its own qualified spend, caps and residency rules, so their rates can't simply be added to the state percentage. Worth a call before you count on one.

• Queensland Production Attraction Strategy (PAS) Incentive

  Case-by-case grant; stacks on federal Producer/Location Offset (not both on same spend)

  Minimum spend: AUD 3.5M Queensland production expenditure

• Victorian Screen Incentive (VSI)

  Set case by case as a percentage of QVE, capped at 10%; stacks on federal offsets

  Minimum spend: AUD 8M QVE (physical production); AUD 0.5M QVE (games, animation, post, VFX)

  10%

• Screenwest Scripted Production Fund

  Base funding = 10% of QWAE (capped A$500k). Funding incentives add up to A$200k, including a diversity incentive of up to A$25k for WA First Nations ATL key creatives, or key creatives who are culturally/linguistically diverse or living with disability. Stacks on federal offsets

  Minimum spend: No dollar threshold — project must score a minimum of 10 points on the Western Australian Elements Table

  10%

• South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) Production Funding

  Case-by-case grant/investment, SA IP focus; stacks on federal offsets

  Minimum spend: None published for the Screen Production Fund (the ~A$250K minimum belongs to the separate SA PDV Rebate)

  10%

• Canberra Screen and Games Fund

  Production grants up to A$300K (+equity); 2025-26 fund fully allocated; stacks on federal offsets

  Minimum spend: No dollar threshold. Gating tests: each grant dollar must generate at least four dollars of Qualifying ACT Expenditure (4:1 QACTE); project must be at least a commercial half hour; at least 30% of finance confirmed at application

• Tasmania Island Screen Incentive

  10% of Tasmanian goods/services spend; min 10 days filming; stacks on federal offsets

  Minimum spend: A$1.5M

  10%

• Northern Territory Production Attraction Incentive Program (PAIP)

  Case-by-case percentage of qualifying NT spend; stacks on federal offsets

  Minimum spend: AUD 2M qualifying Northern Territory production expenditure

Grants & funds

Grant funds and fellowships available to productions here, including national programs. Awarded competitively rather than earned on spend.

• Screen Australia Documentary Production (Producer First / Platform First / Direct-to-Audience)

  Rate varies by stream: Producer First and Platform First cap Screen Australia's contribution at 35% of total budget for budgets of A$500,000 or less, or up to 65% including the Producer Offset above that. Direct-to-Audience goes to 80% of total project budget for budgets of A$500,000 or less (65% including the Producer Offset above that)

  Minimum spend: Platform First: minimum budget A$250,000 per hour, at least a commercial half-hour, with confirmed financing and a confirmed Commissioning Platform at application. Producer First and Direct-to-Audience: no minimum budget

  35%–80%

• Screen Australia Documentary Development

  REPAYABLE: the grant must be repaid to Screen Australia if the project is produced, with or without Screen Australia production funding. Also counts toward the Platform First A$500,000 cap if the project later seeks Screen Australia production funding

How to apply

Apply online to the Office for the Arts (provisional and/or final certificate). Film Certification Advisory Board assesses; the Minister for the Arts issues the Final Certificate, which is lodged with the company tax return; ATO pays the refundable offset.

Common questions

What is the Australia film tax incentive rate?

Australia offers 30% on qualified in-state spend through the Location Offset. It is a refundable credit. A credit that pays out in cash when it exceeds what you owe the state. Close to a rebate for most independent productions.

What is the minimum spend for the Australia film incentive?

A$20M total QAPE (TV: A$1.5M avg QAPE/hr). Falling under the minimum is a total loss of the benefit, not a partial one — it is worth confirming the threshold before locking a budget.

Are there city or county film incentives in Australia?

Yes — Queensland Production Attraction Strategy (PAS) Incentive, Victorian Screen Incentive (VSI), Screenwest Scripted Production Fund, South Australian Film Corporation (SAFC) Production Funding, Canberra Screen and Games Fund, Tasmania Island Screen Incentive, Northern Territory Production Attraction Incentive Program (PAIP). Local programs generally stack on top of the state incentive but define their own qualified spend, caps and rules, so their rates can't simply be added to the state percentage.

Is the Australia film incentive transferable or refundable?

Refundable — the excess over your state tax liability is paid out in cash.

Verify before you budget. These figures come from our own incentives database and each shows when it was last reviewed — but programs change between funding cycles and legislative sessions. Confirm with the film office, or ask us, before a number goes into a budget.