ACTF Annual Report shows record $10 million investment in Australian children’s screen content

The Australian Children’s Television Foundation (ACTF) has released its Annual Report for the 2025-26 financial year, detailing a record spend on the production and development of Australian children’s content.

The ACTF invested $10,210,458 in production funding and $623,616 in script development across 16 projects. It contracted $5,674,649 worth of international sales for the content it distributes, with programs acquired by 23 different broadcasters and streamers.

Releasing the Report, the ACTF Chair, Helen Silver AO, said: “The children’s screen industry globally continues to face complex challenges. But our Annual Report demonstrates how effective the Commonwealth Government’s investment in the ACTF has been in stimulating children’s screen content production in a challenging market.

“It also demonstrates the high value of the ACTF’s international relationships and connections, which enhance the value of the Commonwealth funds. The productions themselves make an outsized contribution to the screen industry eco-system, providing significant opportunities for crew to step up into new roles, and as the Report demonstrates, they go on to make a much broader contribution to our country’s national cultural, civic and educational objectives.”

Children’s projects supported by the ACTF this year include the animated adaptation of Shaun Tan’s Tales from Outer Suburbia, the live-action comedy series Caper Crew, Little Lunch: New Class, a new generation of the beloved TV classic, and a second series of the unique preschool series Knee High Spies for the ABC.

They also include a fifth series of Little J and Big Cuz, a joint commission for NITV and the ABC, the upcoming telemovie Scales for Stan, and three series that were launched on YouTube via the Screen Australia/ACTF Kids IP Incubator partnership, the first time the ACTF has invested in digital-first content.

Meanwhile, 78,441 students and 1,951 schools across the nation participated in the organisation’s online education events, which “lift the bonnet” on the creative process and foster media literacy. Six new resources were released to bring Australian screen content into the classroom, and the ACTF relaunched the Trop Jr short filmmaking competition for children, alongside the Tropfest Foundation.

You can view the full report here.