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We are honoured to have the opportunity to learn from the oldest cultural storytellers in the world and seek to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander practitioners to share their rich culture and perspectives with children in Australia and around the world via stories on screen.

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ACTF News
November 7th 2024
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The ACTF publishes its 2023-24 Annual Report

The Australian Children’s Television Foundation invested or committed nearly $9.5 million in production funding during the 2023-24 financial year, as well as investing more than $380,000 in the development of 14 new projects.

$5,411,198 was spent on production investment, with a further $4,035,467 committed to projects at financing stage.

Two ACTF supported programs premiered during the year – the preschool animation Eddie’s Lil’ Homies and the family feature film Windcatcher – with five ACTF supported programs in production: Tales From Outer Suburbia, Kangaroo Beach Series 3, RUNT, Space Nova Series 2 and Little J & Big Cuz Series 4.

A further three ACTF supported programs were financed, with production to commence in the 2024-25 financial year: Knee High Spies, Turquoise Bay and an unannounced feature film.

The ACTF invested in the development of 14 projects, with a total spend of $381,985. Projects to receive funding were a mix of live-action and animation and include a musical, a hybrid preschool series combining live-action and puppetry, and several films.

Programs supported by the ACTF have been extremely popular overseas, with our international distribution team selling content to over 35 broadcasters across more than 60 individual territories.

Five ACTF supported programs won major awards. Crazy Fun Park won multiple accolades, including the 2024 First Prize by the International Youth Jury for 11-15 years fiction category at the 2024 Prix Jeunesse in Germany. Natural history series Built to Survive won the International Kids Emmy for Factual and Entertainment, becoming the first Australian program to win in the category. Barrumbi Kids was selected for the 2023 Chicago International Children’s Film Festival and won the 1st prize by Children’s Jury in the live-action TV category. Kangaroo Beach Series 2 was the National Winner for Best Animated Series (2D or 3D) at the Asian Academy Creative Awards 2023. 100% Wolf: The Book of Hath won Animated Production of the Year at the Screen Producer Australia Awards 2024, as well as the Gold Award for Best TV Series - Children at the 2023 Australian Effects and Animation Festival.

The ACTF Learning team released seven new education resources, supporting teachers to use recently released shows such as Eddie’s Lil’ Homies, The PM’s Daughter Series 2 and Built to Survive in the classroom, and two NAIDOC themed digital resources supported teachers to explore First Nations content with their students.

Webinars for students and teachers held through the year lifted the bonnet on the production process, exploring special visual effects, storyboards, storytelling techniques, and the ethics of artificial intelligence use. Delivered in partnership with ACMI, these student events were a continuation of the ACTF’s collaboration with the Melbourne-based screen museum.

ACTF Board Chair Helen Silver, AO said: “Locally produced children’s content is vital to shaping children’s identity, contributes to their mental health and to social cohesion in our community. Putting our children and their stories on screen demonstrates the value that we place on the youngest members of our community.”

You can access the full ACTF Annual Report here.

See also:

March 27th 2025

Tales from Outer Suburbia adaptation to screen at prestigious Annecy Festival

The television adaptation of Shaun Tan’s bestselling illustrated anthology Tales from Outer Suburbia has been selected to screen at the Annecy Animated Film Festival in France, which celebrates the best of international animation.

March 26th 2025

Puppetry meets politics on the set of Knee High Spies

The Victorian Minister for Creative Industries, Colin Brooks, recently went behind-the-scenes on the upcoming children’s series Knee High Spies, currently being produced in Melbourne by Werner Film Productions (Dance Academy, The Newsreader) for the ABC.

March 24th 2025

Space Nova S2 to launch onto screens this April

The animated adventure series Space Nova returns for a second season next month, premiering on ABC iview on Thursday 24 April.

March 24th 2025

Aussie kids’ content recognised with Rockie Award nominations

Preschool animation Eddie’s Lil’ Homies and family feature film Windcatcher have been recognised for their excellence with nominations in the prestigious 2025 Banff World Media Festival Rockie Awards.

March 3rd 2025

Screen stories to share with your class for International Women’s Day

International Women’s Day celebrates the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. These screen stories about change-making Australian girls and women will help primary and secondary teachers explore this year’s theme: Accelerate Action.