09 Apr 2025

The vital role of children's television in the Australian screen ecosystem

Jenny Buckland

Most of us understand why locally produced children’s television is valuable for its audience. But what is talked about less often is the vital role it plays in Australia’s screen ecosystem as a training ground for emerging actors and creatives.

Classroom politics: Teaching kids about Civics through Aussie TV

Understanding why and how we all play a part in our democratic society is an integral part of the education ecosystem. One way to engage Australian school children in civics and citizenship is to explore the subject through relevant screen content.

Maggie Orr
13 Mar 2025

Kidscreen 2025 focuses on resilience in a changing landscape

It’s no secret that these are testing times for the screen industry broadly, and the kids’ content sector in particular. While there was a palpable sense of these challenges at the 2025 Kidscreen Summit, there was an invigorated sense of determination to find opportunity in adversity.

Paul Gartside
27 Feb 2025

The loss of linear: what might our kids be missing out on?

In this age of on-demand viewing, are today’s kids are missing out by not experiencing the delayed gratification of waiting for the next episode of their favourite show, and the sense of connection that comes from being invested in a TV show together with your peers?

Maggie Orr
18 Feb 2025

Larrikins and Lighthouses: A Time of Change in Australian Children’s Television

For more than half a century, Australian children’s television has been a cornerstone of Australian culture and vital to explorations and formulations of Australian ‘national identity’. Australian children’s television is facing a silent crisis that is too big for one little blue dog to shoulder alone.

Dr Liam Burke, Associate Professor of Screen Studies, and Dr Joanna McIntyre, Senior Lecturer in Media Studies, Swinburne University of Technology
07 Feb 2025

How children’s television can help our kids develop life skills

Screen time is a contentious issue for modern parents. We are inundated with conflicting messages about how much is too much. But research has begun to show that it’s not just the time children spend engaging with screens that matters: we need to focus on the quality, not just the quantity of what children are watching.

Emma Field
14 Jun 2024

Crazy Fun Park claims Prix Jeunesse prize

Prix Jeunesse International is a renowned meeting place to share content and discussion in children’s and youth television from all around the world. It was an incredible privilege for members of the ACTF and ABC teams to accept the Youth Jury Award for 11-15 Fiction for Crazy Fun Park on behalf of Werner Film Productions.

Jo Kasch
10 Jun 2024