What Australian teens told us about not watching local TV

Australian teenagers have grown up with an abundant choice of digital screen entertainment, including social media, gaming and video streaming.

However, the viewing habits of Australian teenagers are often overlooked in studies. The Australian Communications and Media Authority's latest report on the digital lives of 'young Australians' does not include teenagers, with the lowest age bracket being 18-24.

The lack of research on the teenage audience in Australia is significant. Young children and teenagers are a distinct and growing market, and a very attractive audience for international streamers.

Our new study examined how, why and to what extent Australian teenagers aged 13 to 19 engage with long-form TV series and films in their daily lives, including Australian stories.

We found that Australian teens overwhelmingly preferred watching streaming services like Netflix, Disney+, Amazon Prime, Stan and YouTube over free-to-air TV. Their tastes are very diverse and include shows such as Heartstopper and The Summer I Turned Pretty.

But teenagers don't watch a lot of Australian content.

Australian teens not watching Australian content

Although many fondly remember watching Australian television as children, teenagers today place little importance on whether a story on screen is Australian.

When we asked survey participants why they liked the streaming services they regularly watch, 33% of respondents ranked access to Australian content last, and 25% ranked it second to last, out of six options. For teens, the most important streaming feature was being able to watch an entire season on demand.

Several teenagers said they did not watch or did not want to watch Australian content.

A teenager told us:

I don't really want to watch shows about Australia. I just feel like I already know what Australia is like.

Many teenagers have fond memories of watching Australian television as children. They cited shows such as Home and Away (Seven), Nowhere Boys (ABC), Kath & Kim (ABC then Seven), H₂O: Just Add Water (Network 10), Mako Mermaids (Network 10), Summer Heights High (ABC) and Koala Brothers (ABC).

But they didn't always classify these shows as “Australian”. One participant told us, “I don't watch anything Australian,” but then went on to call H₂O “my favourite TV show on the entire planet!”

A Love for Heartbreak High

Netflix's 2022 Australian reboot of Heartbreak High was a notable exception to the general lack of teen engagement with Australian content.

Originally airing in the 1990s, Netflix released a reboot of Heartbreak High in September 2022 amid data gathering for the project.

Recently released on a major streaming service and remaining in Netflix's top 10 for its first three weeks, Heartbreak High has been a recurring topic of discussion for many teens. They've been particularly drawn to the characters and representations of neurodivergence, sexuality, gender, and ethnicity.

During a focus group discussion, one participant praised the character of Quinni (Chloe Hayden) and how in the series:

In reality, they represent how autistic people behave on a daily basis.

Another said:

I like the fact that there were First Nations […] [It’s not] There's just an all-white Australian cast. There's diversity.

Teens also enjoyed hearing the Australian accents and colloquial language used in the show, such as “garbage can chickens” in reference to the urban scavenger bird, the ibis.

Similarly, they laughed at “eshay”: a common slang term in Australia for a subculture of working-class male youth associated with sports brands, disruptive behaviour and criminality. Participants appreciated the construction of the character of “eshay” Ca$h (Will McDonald), which they found humanised and disruptive to class stereotypes.

Do we need quotas?

Historically, Australian governments have valued locally produced drama and children's programming as a means of socialising and uniting Australian viewers, particularly younger audiences.

Broadcasting policies in the late 1970s required Australia's three commercial broadcasters to provide 130 hours of new Australian children's content each year, including 32 hours of drama.

In 2021, however, the Morrison government removed all children’s quota requirements for commercial broadcasters. By 2024, their investment in children’s drama had fallen to zero. This policy shift left the ABC largely responsible for children’s television in Australia, but the ABC does not currently produce any television programming specifically aimed at young people over the age of 12, i.e. teenage audiences.

There is no political will to reinstate quotas for children on free-to-air channels, but even if quotas were reintroduced, this is not where young people are looking to watch television. Of those surveyed, 12.6% said they “never” watched free-to-air television, 28% said they “rarely” did, 25% watched it “sometimes” and only 10% watched free-to-air channels “mostly” or “always”.

When we expanded this survey to look at these channels' streaming services, such as ABC iView, SBS On Demand and 10Play, only 27% watched 'sometimes' and 9% 'mostly' and 'always' on these platforms.

Streaming services like Netflix and Stan are exempt from Australia’s content regulations. The Australian government has committed to introducing regulations for streaming services from July 1, but has yet to table a motion in parliament or provide much detail on what that might look like. It’s not yet clear whether there will be specific quotas for children or formal protections for uniquely Australian stories.

If and when these quotas are reintroduced, imposing quotas on any service will not be enough if we don't talk to Australian teenagers about what, where and how they watch it – and understand the shows they will want to watch in the future.