Tuesday, 22 September 2026

 David DAVIS (Southern Metropolitan) (23:57): (2827) My matter for the adjournment tonight is for the Minister for Creative Industries, and it concerns Victoria’s gaming industry. Victoria has a history going back to the 1990s and is currently the leading centre in Australia for video game development. The ecosystem adds a significant source of export revenue and indeed cultural recognition for the state. According to Interactive Games and Entertainment Association data, the sector generates $608.5 million in annual revenue, with Victoria hosting 20 per cent of all games studio offices. Some of this goes back to the period in the 1990s, when enormous work was done by then Treasurer of the state Alan Stockdale. They look at the significance of Victoria hosting studio offices, employing almost 30 per cent of the industry’s national workforce. That represents a very significant return on government investment. However, industry feedback consistently indicates that these successes cannot be taken for granted without longer-term funding certainty and sustained support. Studios and skilled workers may face challenges from other jurisdictions, and certainly the Queensland government is supporting the gaming industry in that state. Predictable, stable settings are required. My question to the minister is: what steps will the government take to provide longer-term certainty for the video game sector and ensure Victoria remains, as it has for some decades, Australia’s leading centre of gaming development?

It is important in this context to look at some of the recent budget signals that have occurred and funding decisions which suggest games are sliding from a genuine priority to an afterthought within the state’s broader screen strategy – as I say, even as Queensland becomes more competitive. This is a live opportunity for the state to maintain and strengthen its position, and that is not what has been occurring in the state in recent years. It has been slipping. The Victorian budget allocated $27 million to expand the Victorian screen incentive. That announcement and the public messaging around it was framed almost entirely around attracting film and television, which is an important sector, but did not pick up games with the importance that they should have been given. There was a failure to fund Freeplay, Australia’s longest-running independent games festival and a genuine grassroots talent pipeline, in Creative Victoria’s enterprise program for 2026 to 2029. These decisions by state government are weakening the gaming sector, and Creative Victoria’s Creative State overarching industry strategy did not give it the recognition that was needed. The minister needs to address these weaknesses and challenges.