Greens, Geeks + Gamers

On 14 November, three of the IAA team arrived in Canberra for an in-depth discussion on the video game industry, digital rights, and the NBN. A room full of industry players attended The Greens policy launch, along with our own Kellie Ireland (Executive Officer), Nathan Brookfield (Secretary) and Jason Dale (Board Member). Throughout the night they heard from former Senator Scott Ludlam, Senator Jordon Steele-John, and ACT Greens Senate Candidate Dr Penny Kyburz, who is a computer science academic and video game developer, on the policy initiatives being put forward by The Greens.

Dr Kyburz made the move to Canberra originally to work with 2K Games as a developer, having come from Creative Assembly in Brisbane. She is therefore no stranger to the inner workings of the video game industry and what happens when international conglomerates buy up talented local studios.

In 2016, a senate inquiry (initiated by The Greens) made eight unanimous recommendations for supporting the Australian video games industry. This initiative draws largely on those recommendations.

Former Senator Scott Ludlum spoke in support of Penny and outlines the unique opportunity the Canberra community had to influence policy should they achieve representative in the upcoming election.

Following a day in the Senate passing amendments to My Health Record, WA Senator Jordon Steele-John spoke and launched a number of The Green’s policy initiatives. In brief, the policies they outlined were:

Investing in the Video Game Industry:

• $100 Million Games Investment & Enterprise Fund
• Extend file and TV offsets to video game developers
• $5 Million creative co-working spaces fund
• Support our creative industries and artists
• Finish and fix the NBN

Protecting Our Digital Rights:

• Establish a Digital Rights Commissioner
• Repeal the mandatory data retention scheme
• Update Australian Privacy Laws

You can find more policy details here, or playback the event here.

We’d love to hear your thoughts on these policies and what it might mean for your organisation, or the industry as a whole.  In addition, would you be interested in a more tailored industry forum with policy makers? Let us know by reaching out to our Executive Officer Kellie Ireland on 1300 653 132 or kellie@internet.asn.au